
Qass ._/^^^^^-^ 

OFB'ICIAL IXiSSTAXrON. 




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CALIFORNIA 



ITS PRODUCTS ¥^-^ 

RESOURCES 
INDUSTRIES and 
ATTRACTIONS 



WHAT IT OFFERS THE IMMIGRANT, 
HOMESEEKER, INVESTOR and TOURIST 



=Published by the= 



CALIFORNIA LOUISIANA PURCHASE 
EXPOSITION COMMISSION ^ ^ ^ 



COMMISSION : 

GOV. GEO. C, PARDEE, J. A. FILCHER, FRANK WIGGINS 



EDITED BY T. G. DANIELLS 



SACPvAMENTO 

W W. SHANNON - ^ SUPERINTENDENT STATE PRINTING 

1904 






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CONTENTS, 



Page. 

PREFACE - - - - 3 

HISTORICAL SKETCH Carrie J. Pratt - - 5 

TOPOGRAPHICAL CONSIDERATIONS - J. A. Filcher - - - 10 

CLIMATE OF CALIFORNIA - - - - N. P. Chipman - - 15 

THE TRIUMPH OF IRRIGATION - - Wm. E. Smythe - - - 22 

THE MINERAL WEALTH OF CALIFORNIA Lewis E. Anbury - - 32 

THE OIL INDUSTRY OF CALIFORNIA - Dr. C. T. Deane - - - 41 

AGRICULTURE IN CALIFORNIA - - - Arthur R. Briggs - - 46 

HORTICULTURE IN CALIFORNIA - - E.J. Wickson - - - 58 

ORANGE-GROWING IN CALIFORNIA - - A. 11. Naftzger - - 70 

ORANGES IN THE SIERRA FOOTHILLS - J. Parker Whitney - - 74 

THE OLIVE IN CALIFORNIA - - - - George C. Eoeding - - 79 

VITICULTURE IN CALIFORNIA - - - Charles Bundschu - - 85 

RAISIN-GROWING IN CALIFORNIA - - D. D. Allison - - - 89 

THE FIG IN CALIFORNIA - - - - George C. Roeding - - 96 

THE FORESTS OF CALIFORNIA - - - W. H. Mills - - - 102 

THE LUMBER INDUSTRY OP CALIFORNIA E. J. Holt - - - - 110 

THE FISHES OF CALIFORNIA - - - David Starr Jordan - 118 

CATTLE-RAISING IN CALIFORNIA - - Peter J. Shields - - - 124 

DAIRY INDUSTRY OF CALIFORNIA - - Arthur R. Briggs - - 131 

POULTRY-RAISING IN CALIFORNIA - - L. C. Byce - - - - 135 

THE HONEY INDUSTRY IN CALIFORNIA George L. Emerson - - 139 

THE BEET-SUGAR INDUSTRY OF CALI- 
FORNIA - . . James M. Taylor - - 142 

COMMERCE AND COMMERCIAL RELA- 
TIONS OF CALIFORNIA - - - - James D. Phelan - - 146 

MANUFACTURES OF CALIFORNIA - - Charles E. Bancroft - - 154 

BANKS AND BANKING J. K. Lynch - - - 158 

CALIFORNIA'S SCHOOLS Robert Furlong - - - 165 

MORAL AND RELIGIOUS LIFE IN CALI- 
FORNIA - Rev. Charles R. Brown - 171 

THE OUTDOOR LIFE OF CALIFORNIA - William Greer Harrison 177 

CALIFORNIA'S HEALTH RESORTS - - A. J. Wells - - - - 183 

TRAVELING IN CALIFORNIA - - - Elwyn Hoffman - - 191 

PAST AND PRESENT OF THE FRANCISCAN 

MISSIONS OF CALIFORNIA - - - J. h'. Knowland - - - 197 

CALIFORNIA'S CALL TO THE IMMIGRANT John P. Irish - - - 206 



PKEFACE. 



The purpose of this book is to disseminate accurate information 
regarding California. It is to give those who seek enlightenment 
facts and figures that in every instance may be verified upon per- 
sonal investigation. There is no purpose in exaggerating the re- 
sources and attractions of such a marvelous land as California. 
One of the contributors to these pages writes : "I have told every- 
thing just as I would want it told me if I had in view a change 
of location. The truth is plenty good enough as to anything con- 
cerning California." That spirit, it is trusted, has been carried 
out in every paragraph and sentence of the book. Each subject has 
been treated by one who has particular knowledge of it and who 
has undertaken the task through love of his State and a desire to 
render it a service; and also, possibly, because of a feeling that 
something which may have gone before needs more careful treat- 
ment. Some of the contributors are of national renown; all are 
recognized in California as particularly qualified to write on their 
several subjects. 

If the details of this little work are curtailed, it is because of an 
embarrassment of riches, rather than a lack of them. To amplify 
and supplement the matter here set forth the reader may obtain 
printed or specifically written information from any of several 
large bureaus maintained for that purpose up and down the State — 
the State Board of Trade and Promotion Committee of San Fran- 
-SHS^ ; Chambers of Commerce of Los Angeles, Sacramento, Oakland, 
San Jose, Fresno and Stockton ; and if anything further is desired 
regarding still smaller communities, a board of trade or similar body 
maintained at every county seat and in most of the towns will, upon 
request, promptly forward reliable information. 



4 PREFACE. 

This book is issued by mandate of the law carrying the appro- 
priation through which California is enabled to place an exhibit 
at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. In that respect it is official, 
and by that fact it must be realized that it is in the interest of no 
individual; of no single community. It is for the whole of Califor- 
nia — designated by one of the greatest of Americans as that 
' ' Empire of the Pacific, ' ' whose extent and importance he expressed 
in that title, and whose destiny he so clearly foreshadowed. 

With this brief introduction, the California Commission to the 
Louisiana Purchase Exposition present this book, in the hope that 
it will be accepted as a true, earnest and impartial presentation of 
the conditions in California; as giving reliable information to all 
who may be seeking it. 



CALIFOKNIA 



Its Products, Kesources, Industries and 

Attractions. 



HISTORICAL SKETCH. 



By CARRIE J. PRATT. 



Many and diverse are the elements which have gone into the 
making of the "Golden State." Strangely different actors have 
played their part, and left their impress where they played. The 
country itself and its aboriginal inhabitants were long a source 
of attraction to the Spanish conquerors. In 1536, Cortes and his 
followers superficially inspected Lower California. They likened 
the land to the famous island of Amazons, described in the old 
Spanish romance, "Sergas de Espladian," in which the author 
speaks of "the great island of California, where an abundance of 
gold and precious stones is found." With the inherent poesy of 
the Spanish race they named the territory California. 

In 1542, Cabrillo sailed along the coast, and over a century later 
Viscaino explored it, mapping the bays of San Diego and Monterey. 
Sir Francis Drake, Queen Elizabeth's daring buccaneer, in cruis- 
ing the Pacific for Spain's treasure ships, discovered, in 1579, the 
bay which bears his name. He called the land ' ' New Albion. ' ' 

Spain's desire for new possessions and the missionary zeal of 
the Franciscans under the leadership of Father Junipero Serra 
led to the colonization of California in 1768. This fervid religious 
enthusiast, and Jose Galvez, visitador-general to Mexico from 
Spain, fitted out four expeditions which set out by land and sea. 
The vicissitudes of travel were many. Finally, the travelers 
reached San Diego, and on July 16, 1769, they founded the mission 
of that name. Despite their exhausted condition, a detachment 
was sent northward to find the bay of Monterey, which had been 
mapped out by Viscaino. It was this party that missed its objec- 
tive point and found instead the important bay of San Francisco. 
This discovery led to the establishment of the mission of San Fran- 
cisco, in the year of our national independence. 



6 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

By the end of 1823, when the last and most northerly mission 
had been planted at Sonoma, these religious houses had grown to 
twenty-one in number and had acquired great wealth in olive, 
orange and grape plantations and herds of cattle and horses. The 
Indians were converted to Christianity, weaned from their barbaric 
and nomadic state, and induced to lead a settled life. The Spanish 
government provided a presidio, or military station, near each 
mission. The pueblos, also a sort of adjunct to the missions, were 
towns established to promote the settlement of the country. They 
maintained local and civil government independent of church or 
military rule. To Californians of the present day, the missions are 
memorials of the older civilization which keep alive the continuity 
of historic interest. The ruined buildings are a source of inspira- 
tion to artists and the motifs for much of the domestic, civic and 
religious architecture of Modern California. 

As the years rolled on, explorers of different nationalities now 
and again touched at points along the coast, but only the Russians 
established a settlement, which, however, was abandoned after a 
short period. 

The political situation of the whole country was much altered 
when, in 1822, the many revolutionary upheavals in Mexico cul- 
minated in her proclamation of independence from Spain. The 
republican government was unfavorable to the Church, and the 
Mexican congress enacted a law providing for the dispersion of 
the Franciscan fathers of California and a division of their vast 
principalities among the settlers and the Indians. Soon after this 
the secularization of the missions began. They were stripped of 
their wealth; the buildings were neglected, the Indians scattered, 
and the ownership of the land fell to the lot of the Mexican 
rancheros. These were mostly of Spanish lineage, whose principal 
occupation was the raising of cattle for hides and tallow. They 
were, on the whole, a simple, kindly and unprogressive people, 
much given to picturesque apparel, gay colors and fiestas. They 
rode a great deal, visited one another frequently, enjoyed many 
sports, music and dancing, lived to a ripe old age, and had very 
large families. These were the days of boundless hospitality, when 
every stranger was welcome at the haciendas and became a guest 
for as long as he chose to remain. Those happy patriarchal times 
of the splendid idle forties — how they vanished upon the advent 
of the gringo— the stranger from across the plains! 

By 1846 a number of Americans had found their way to the 
new territory. They had come as trappers and traders, and were 
men of valor and sturdiness — the heralds of Anglo-Saxon suprem- 
acy. A spirit of local independence developed rapidly among 
them. This led to a silent conflict between them and the Mexicans, 
resulting in a jealousy of Mexican control and bitter political feuds 
between rival factions around Monterey in the north and Los 
Angeles in the south. 

About this time the attention of the United States government 
began to be strongly attracted toward California, and the French 



HISTORICAL SKETCH. 7 

and the English were looking in this direction with a view to pos- 
sibly taking possession of the country. 

All the circumstances connected with the seizing of California 
will probably never be known. It appears, however, that the 
authorities at Washington, having determined on a war with 
Mexico and being fully aware of the importance to the United 
States of an extension of territory to the Pacific, resolved to take 
possession of California, so that after the termination of the war 
this country would become a part of the Union. At all events, 
Fremont, while engaged in conducting a scientific expedition on the 
Pacific Coast, received, in May, 1846, verbal instructions from an 
officer dispatched from Washington. He at once turned back, made 
his way to Sutter's Fort, then to Sonoma, where he organized a 
battalion of mounted riflemen, and prepared to make war against 
the Mexicans. On the 14th of June, 1846, a party of Americans 
took possession of the town of Sonoma and raised the Bear Flag. 
On the 5th of July following, this Bear Flag party declared their 
independence, made Fremont governor and issued a formal declara- 
tion of war. Two days afterwards Commodore Sloat, under orders 
from the United States government, seized Monterey, and Captain 
Montgomery raised the American flag in San Francisco. The con- 
quest was completed by Commodore Stockton and General Kearny. 
By the treaty with Mexico in 1848, California became American 
territory, and another milestone was reached in its progress. 

Upon the acquisition of California the United States revenue 
laws were extended over the territory and San Francisco made 
a port of entry, but no further progress was made toward creat- 
ing a government. The discussion as to what should be done with 
California when acquired began in Congress in 1846, and the ques- 
tion of slavery or no slavery was at once raised. When it became 
American territory the question of its admission into the Union 
was counted as one of supreme importance. There were fifteen 
free states and fifteen slave states, and, of course, an equal repre- 
sentation in the Senate. The addition of the sixteenth free state 
would turn the scale and mark the beginning of a preponderance 
of free-state power in Congress. Against this, resistance on the 
part of the South was almost desperate. A furious conflict was 
waged between the oratorical giants of Congress, but nothing 
concluded. 

The dilatoriness was most harassing to the Calif ornians, who 
soon realized that a state organization was the only feasible scheme 
which promised the country a government. In accordance with 
this conviction the people, in September, 1849, framed a constitu- 
tion which forbade slavery. On the 9th of September of the fol- 
lowing year, 1850, and without having gone through any novitiate 
as a territory, California sprang into full being as a common- 
wealth and was admitted to the sisterhood of states. 

An important era dates from the discovery of gold at Sutter's 
mill, on January 24, 1848. The news that gold had been found 
sped to the most distant parts of the world. A great tide of mi- 



8 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

gration swept westward, and the vast Pacific was covered with the 
sailing craft of all nations. The mighty historic body of gold- 
seekers— the Argonauts— arrived in 1849. Many of these jour- 
neyed with ox team across the plains and struggled through the 
Sierra, braving the famine and horror of the desert and the perils 
of predatory Indians. Women and children shared with men the 
privations of the terrible overland trail. Simultaneously with the 
coming of the overland contingent, ships were fitted out- for the 
long voyage around Cape Horn, and steamers were put on to carry 
people by way of Panama. The majority of the newcomers were 
young, unmarried men of brawn and vigor, contemptuous of ob- 
stacles and reckless of their lives. They had the qualities which 
made them fit to do battle with and to overcome wild man and 
nature. They came with one idea— to get rich quickly and return 
home. The scramble for gold lasted until the mountains and 
gulches had been scratched over and a decline in gold production 
had set in. Then those who came to mine remained to till. The 
pick and the shovel gave way to the plow and the hoe. Instead of 
golden nuggets, the earth was made to yield a harvest of golden 
grain. This was the beginning of the great wheat-planting era, 
before the versatility of California's soil was realized. The com- 
pletion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869 furthered the 
prosperity of the State and gave an impetus to the immigration of 
home-builders. 

California's second "gold" discovery— the navel orange— dates 
from the seventies. Like Marshall's find, it was the magnet to 
draw to the State thousands of strangers. These, unlike the first- 
comers, were colonists who brought with them their household 
gods and set up homes, laid out orange groves, and awaited 
results. 

The orange was the incentive to other horticultural discoveries, 
and today California has no equal among the states, nor indeed, 
among the countries of the world, in horticultural possibilities. It 
has more acres in grapes than New England has in corn, and it 
produces more wine than all the rest of the Union put together. 
Its beet sugar is a formidable rival to the cane product of tropic 
lands. It exports raisins to Spain, prunes to Germany and France, 
and will very soon take the fig trade of the world from Smyrna. 

California, with a coast line about one-fifth the total coast line 
of the United States, has, by value, one-fourteenth of the fisheries ; 
it has the densest forests of merchantable timber in the world; 
its yearly gold output is up in the millions of dollars, and its oil 
wells now exceed and bid fair to outlast the productiveness of 
those of Pennsylvania. 

In comparison with the other states in the Union, California 
ranks second in area, twenty-first in population, and eighteenth 
in order of admission. Its coast line, measured in all its sinuosi- 
ties, is nearly one thousand miles in length, and its eastern boun- 
dary conforms to the curve of the seacoast, so that its breadth is 
approximately the same throughout, averaging about two hundred 
miles. The total land area is 155,980 square miles. 



10 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

To give a category of the State 's resources and advantages would 
be an endless task. In his addresses to the people of California, in 
1903, President Roosevelt said : 

" 'The Golden State' has a future of even brighter promise 
than most of her older sisters, and yet the future is bright for all 
of us. * * * In the century that is opening, the commerce 
and the command of the Pacific will be factors of incalculable 
moment in the world's history. * * * in the South Seas the 
great commonwealth of Australia has sprung into being. Japan, 
shaking off the lethargy of centuries, has taken her rank among 
civilized modem powers * * * and European nations have 
seated themselves along the coast of China. Meanwhile our own 
mighty republic has stretched from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and 
now in California, Oregon, Washington; in Alaska, Hawaii and 
the Philippines, holds an extent of coast line which makes it of 
necessity a power of the first class in the Pacific. America's geo- 
graphical position on the Pacific is such as to insure our peaceful 
domination of its waters in the future if we only grasp with suffi- 
cient resolution the advantages of that position. We are taking 
long strides in that direction. Witness the cables we are laying 
down, the steamship lines we are starting— some of them already 
containing vessels larger than any freight carriers that have pre- 
viously existed. We have taken the first steps toward digging an 
isthmian canal, to be under our own control; a canal which will 
make our Atlantic and Pacific coast lines in effect continuous, 
which will be of incalculable benefit to our mercantile navy, and 
above all to our military navy in the event of war. * * * 
Much of our expansion must go through the 'Golden Gate.' And 
inevitably, you who are seated by the Pacific must take the lead 
in and must profit by the growth of American influence along the 
coasts and among the islands of that mighty ocean, where East and 
West finally become one. ' ' 



TOPOGRAPHICAL CONSIDEKATIONS. 



By J. A. FILCHER, 

California Commissioner to Louisiana Purchase Exposition. 



In its topography California is distinct and striking. Two 
ranges of mountains practically inclose a great interior basin or 
valley. On the east is the high Sierra range, on the summits of 
which snow remains all the year; on the west is the low Coast 
Range, which gathers snow enough occasionally during the win- 
ter months to whiten its highest points a few days at a time. These 
mountain ranges converge at Mount Shasta in the northern part 



12 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

of the State, and again at Tehachapi in the south. The great val- 
ley lying between them is one expanse of practically level or un- 
broken territory, from 500 to 600 miles long and from 40 to 60 
miles wide. The northern portion is drained by the Sacramento 
river and its tributaries, and is called the Sacramento valley. The 
southern portion is drained by the San Joaquin river and its tribu- 
taries, and is called the San Joaquin valley. These rivers empty 
into the easterly portion of San Francisco bay, and the Golden 
Gate is their common outlet to the sea. The eastern boundary line 
of the State between California and Nevada follows closely the 
summit of the Sierra, and on the western or California side the 
decline is very gradual, forming an immense watershed, embrac- 
ing the gold mining region of the State, vast forests of superior 
commercial timber, and in the lower altitudes, where less rugged, 
the great Sierra foothill fruit belt. 

The Coast Range consists of different spurs, and between these 
are valleys of greater or less dimensions that are exceedingly fer- 
tile. Among the most noted of these valleys north of San Fran- 
cisco bay are Sonoma valley, Napa valley, Vaca valley, and Ukiah 
valley. Near Clear lake is what is known as Scott's valley, very 
productive, but of higher altitude. South of San Francisco bay, 
not counting the many small and very fertile valleys in Contra 
Costa and Alameda counties, are Santa Clara valley, Pajaro valley, 
Salinas valley, Santa Maria valley, and several other extremely 
rich but smaller valleys in San Luis Obispo and northern Santa 
Barbara counties. South of the Tehachapi range, which ter- 
minates the great San Joaquin valley, is what is commonly known 
as Southern California. This part of the State is more or less 
broken by low mountains, but the region between them and the 
seacoast is extensive, and this and the valleys lying between the 
different mountain ranges are noted for a bountiful yield of every 
semi-tropic and other product that has helped to make California 
famous. 

Back of the mountains in Southern California lies the Mojave 
desert. On this desert, where water has been developed, plant 
products have proven profitable; otherwise it presents to the eye 
a great expanse of unbroken sterility. This desert and the moun- 
tains that are too steep for cultivation embrace about 60,000,000 
acres, or three-fifths of the total area of the State, leaving about 
40,000,000 acres, or two-fifths of the area of the State, that is 
arable. Thus is the topography of California briefly outlined. 

The coast trend of the State being northwest and southeast, 
presents a right angle front to the Japan or equatorial current 
that ever comes up from the southwest to lave its shores. It is 
this warm current that gives California its temperate and equable 
climate, and it is this current that gives to the entire State, north, 
south, and central, the same general average temperature at points 
of the same altitude and the same distance from the sea. 

It is the topography of California that diversifies its climate 
more than latitude. Mountain ranges afford different altitudes, 



TOPOGRAPHICAL CONSIDERATIONS. 13 

and altitude affects temperature. These same ranges govern air 
currents, and these again have a bearing on the climate. On the 
coast where the summer sea breezes are ever present, the tempera- 
ture is greatly modified, and the atmosphere is refreshing. B3' 
reason of the cooler summers on the coast, the seasons are more 
backward. It is in the warmer vales on the eastern or valley side 
of the Coast Range, or on the sunny slopes of the Sierra foothills, 
above the fogs and below the snow, where the sun shines always 
except when the clouds are passing, and in the sheltered valleys 
of the south, that the earliest of California's early products are 
grown. The entire Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys, being 
sheltered from sea breezes by the Coast Range mountains, present 
an early field, but not so early as the foothills of the Sierra, or 
of the sheltered vales of Central or Southern California. These 
facts are mentioned as interesting to the prospective producer, 
since the earliest fruits and vegetables are generally the most prof- 
itable. In this connection it may be stated that a new mark (or 
date) for California's earliest fruits is promised by the products 
from the desert, not important now, but which are becoming 
gradually more extensive as from year to year more water is being 
developed. 

Enough of the sea breezes blow through the Golden Gate to 
affect the temperature of the great interior valleys by evening, 
and it is this influence which gives to them the delightful charac- 
teristic of cool summer nights. While the soils of the valleys and 
sloping hills are generally rich in the elements that go to make 
plant life, in some portions the soil is richer and more productive 
than in others. These differences, as well as the air currents that 
affect the temperature, have their bearing on vegetation, and 
especially on the fruit of the plant, and they are subjects that 
have to be studied by the farmer and the horticulturist. 

Temperature and soil elements affect not only production, but 
especially the quality of the product, and they must be considered 
by the producer. A lustiious grape, for instance, can be grown 
almost anywhere below a certain altitude in California; but the 
grape of the warm interior would have too much sugar for a light 
dry table wine, while the grape of the cooler bay counties would 
not have sugar enough for a good raisin. Hence we must grow 
our dry wines in the cool bay counties and our sweet wines and 
raisins in the warmer interior. Dry, warm weather is essential 
also for successfully curing raisins, and hence Fresno and adjoin- 
ing counties in the heart of the great San Joaquin valley, where 
soil and climate conditions are ideal, have become the great raisin 
center of the State. Again, with the Tokay table grape color is 
an essential selling quality ; it is therefore important to plant these 
grapes where there is plenty of iron or coloring matter in the soil. 
This is also true of peaches. For this reason the red iron soil of 
the Sierra foothills region is commanding attention as the field 
for the production of the best of these products. 

These are instances, but they serve to suggest caution in the 



14 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

selection of locality for any particular production. Prunes grow 
to large size and are generally successful throughout the great 
interior orchard sections of the State; but the best prunes, those 
which in thinness of skin, size of pit, texture of flesh, and delicacy 
of flavor come nearest the ideal, are grown in the valleys of the 
Coast Range, Thus, Santa Clara valley enjoys more fame from 
its prunes than has the county by reason of its possession of the 
Lick Observatory or the Stanford University, 

Again, the foothills, so well adapted to peaches, table grapes, 
pears and certain varieties of plums, are not the best place for 
apricots. This fruit requires a deep, rich loam, and hence the 
river bottom land of the interior valleys and the deep, dark soil 
of the Coast Range valleys and around San Francisco bay can 
be depended on for the thriftiest trees and the best crops. Citrus 
fruits require a deep, rich soil and a congenial climate, warm in 
the summer and not too cold in the winter. The winter in San 
Francisco would not hurt an orange tree, yet the summer is too 
cool for the proper development of the fruit; hence San Fran- 
cisco and adjacent coast country are not properly within the Cali- 
fornia citrus belt. 

Nearly all the arable regions of Southern California have con- 
ditions favorable to citrus fruit production, and it is here nearly 
all the oranges and lemons are at present grown, yet the Sierra 
foothills and the San Joaquin and Sacramento valleys, where soil 
conditions are favorable, are extending their groves and adding 
each year to their output of this staple California fruit. 

It is said the olive will grow anywhere, even on impoverished 
soil, but experience has shown that, like all other fruit, it appre- 
ciates good soil, and responds generously to good care. 

There is much in soil and temperature in California and the 
adaptability of certain conditions for the best results in certain 
lines of products which the oldest or wisest inhabitant has not yet 
satisfactorily solved; but enough is known, as the result of ex- 
tensive and expensive experiments, to suggest to the novice, or the 
newcomer, that he must exercise care in selecting a location for 
the pursuit of any particular line of husbandry. He may do fairly 
well in almost any line, almost anywhere, but what he should en- 
deavor to learn is the locality in which he can do better in his 
particular line than he could do elsewhere. Ask questions, observe 
what others are doing, and make comparisons — this is the quickest, 
easiest and safest way to learn the truth. 



CLIMATE OF CALIFORNIA. 15 



CLIMATE OF CALIFORNIA. 



By N. p. CHIPMAN, 
President of the State Board of Trade. 



California must be counted among the most valuable posses- 
sions of the United States for many reasons; chiefly, however, 
because of the matchless climate of the State and the high 
economic value it bestows upon a large area of arable land whose 
coast line measures 850 miles from point to point, the average 
width of the State being about 200 miles. The south boundary 
line of latitude emerges on the Atlantic coast near Savannah, 
Georgia, and the north parallel near Boston, Massachusetts. Be- 
tween these two latter points lie ten states of the Union. It counts 
for something to the nation that this extended coast line, on the 
Pacific Ocean, is fortressed by a region capable of supporting many 
millions of people and that the coast to the Canadian boundary is 
backed by a country of almost boundless resources. 

It is not generally appreciated that all of France, all of Italy 
north of Rome, and half of Spain lie north of the north boundary 
of California. This relative position on the west coast of our 
continent would suggest a mild climate, but not necessarily its 
unique and exceptional character. It- is the purpose of the writer 
to bring to public attention the principal features of this climate 
and to show its economic value. 

Professor Alexander G. McAdie, District Forecaster of the 
United States Weather Bureau, San Francisco, states that the 
climate of California is controlled by four great factors: (1) The 
movements of the great continental and oceanic pressure areas 
(commonly called "high" and "low"), together with the move- 
ments of individual pressure areas; (2) the prevailing drift of the 
atmosphere in temperate latitudes from west to east; (3) the 
proximity of the Pacific Ocean, with a mean annual temperature 
near the coast line of 55 degrees Fahrenheit, a great natural con- 
servator of heat, to which is chiefly due the moderate range of 
temperature along the coast from San Diego even to Tatoosh 
island (extreme northwest coast of Washington) ; and, (4) the ex- 
ceedingly diversified topography for a distance of 200 miles from 
the coast inland. To this diversified topography is due the fact 
that California is a land of many climates, "from the hottest sub- 
tropical to the cold temperate, and from the driest desert to the 
most humid regions of the higher mountains and northern coast." 

The Sierra Nevada mountains form a natural boundary line 
on the east, rising gradually from the west to a height of from 
8,500 to 14,000 feet, much above the snow line, and falling off to 
the Nevada plateau, which is about 4,000 feet above sea level. The 



16 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

Coast Range mountains form a broad belt, traversing the entire 
coast, and consist of two or three parallel ranges from 3,200 to 
5,000 feet high, and between these ranges are many rich valleys, 
some of large extent. The Coast Range merges into the Siskiyou 
mountains on the north, a connecting link with the Sierra, crowned 
by Mount Shasta; and the Tehachapi mountains, far to the south, 
form another connecting link. 

Between the Sierr.a and the coast mountains and these connect- 
ing mountain links lies the Great Central Valley of California, 
about 400 miles long and from 50 to 60 miles wide; an agricul- 
tural district of great fruitfulness, comprising quite one-ninth of 
the State. There is but little waste land in it. The northern por- 
tion is blessed by ample rainfall, and the southern part, when 
watered, is everywhere very productive, as is the entire valley. 
The Sacramento river runs south through the northern portion 
(Sacramento valley), rising near Mount Shasta; the San Joaquin 
river runs north through the southern portion (San Joaquin 
valley) ; the two rivers uniting near the middle of the great valley 
and flowing westward into San Francisco bay, and thence through 
the "Golden Gate" into the Pacific Ocean. 

There is here a wide break in the Coast Range through which 
the summer trade winds find their way into the interior, an im- 
portant factor in the climatic conditions of the valley. This sea 
breeze every summer afternoon blows up stream, north into the 
Sacramento valley and south into the San Joaquin valley, thus 
tempering the heat of the great valley. This influence, together 
with the dryness of the atmosphere, renders the occasional high 
temperatures of these two valleys more easily endurable at 110 
degrees than is 95 degrees in the humid regions of the Eastern 
States. 

South of the Tehachapi mountains the Sierra continue at less 
elevation, and are locally called Sierra Madre. The wonderfully 
developed region known as Southern California lies west. On the 
east is the Mojave desert, and south and east the Colorado desert ; 
important regions of the State as yet but partially developed, but 
of great fertility by the application of water, which the genius 
and enterprise of the people will surely bring in touch with the 
land. As in the north, the breaks in the Coast Range and in the 
Sierra Madre become important factors in modifying the climate 
of the interior. In Southern California and in Central California 
(San Joaquin valley) extensive irrigation systems already in 
operation greatly mitigate, if they do not satisfactorily supply, 
the lack of rainfall. Irrigation is also being much resorted to in 
the Sacramento valley. 

The prevailing winds come from the ocean and are 
Winds, principally from the southwest landward, producing 
a cool summer climate along the immediate coast. 
Fogs sometimes sweep in from the ocean, more or less unfavorably 
affecting the enjoyment of the climate, but by their moisture con- 
tributing to the growth of vegetation. These fogs are less harsh 



CLIMATE OF CALIFORNIA. 17 

on the south coast. The heat rising from the great valley draws 
a strong current from the trade winds through the Golden Gate 
that divides as it passes and extends south to the Tehachapi moun- 
tains and north to Mount Shasta, rendering the air of the valley 
more delightful. The same drift of the trade winds tempers the air 
far into the interior in Southern California. The high mountain 
barrier on the east, through the length of the State, deflects the 
cold winds that sweep down over the Nevada plains in winter 
from Alaska and prevents their entrance into the valley regions 
of California. Dry north winds sometimes blow through the great 
valley in summer, raising the temperature, and are occasionally 
injurious to growing crops, but they seldom continue more than 
three or four days, when they are succeeded by the balmy and cool 
ocean breezes. Along the immediate coast the average winter and 
summer temperature differs only about four degrees, and one of 
the characteristic features of the San Francisco climate is exem- 
plified by the sight of furs worn by ladies over summer garments, 
and fires in summer are not infrequent. 

All along the coast, however, there are thousands of sheltered 
nooks and small valleys and sequestered spots, where the fogs and 
harsh winds of the coast have no appreciable effect and where the 
climate is charming and sunny to the last degree, both winter and 
summer. 

The terms "winter" and ''summer," as commonly 
Rainfall. used in the Eastern States, have no application in 
California. The year is more properly divided into 
*' rainy season " (winter) and " dry season " (summer). Practically 
all the rain falls from about the first of November until April ; the 
remaining months of the year are rainless, except in some parts of 
the mountains and on the coast north of Cape Mendocino, where 
occasional summer showers occur. Cereal crops mature in early 
summer after rain ceases, and no housing of crops is necessary for 
protection against rain in harvest time. 

The rainfall of California is a characteristic feature of the cli- 
mate. A word as to its source and cause will be interesting. 
Professor McAdie points out that over the North Pacific Ocean 
in winter there exists an area of low barometer (latitudes 40 and 
60 degrees north and 130 degrees west to 140 degrees east longi- 
tude), while an area of high pressure overlies the greater part of 
North America with a southwest extension to the Tropics and west 
to the one hundred and sixtieth meridian. He says: "We shall 
find that typical wet winters on the California coast occur when 
this great North Pacific low extends well eastward overlying the 
continent west of a line drawn from San Francisco to Calgary 
(Canada). At the same time the great continental high area ap- 
parently recedes to the southeast. On the other hand, the pres- 
sure distribution characteristic of a dry winter on the California 
coast is marked by the prevalence of the continental high over the 
entire country west of the Rocky mountains." 

Our winter rain storms (barring an occasional one coming in 



18 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

from the ocean unheralded) have their origin off the coast of Van- 
couver, and curiously enough are attended in the great valley by 
south winds. The storms diminish in intensity as they travel south, 
tapering off as they approach Southern California. The table 
will show this graphically, from which will be seen also the great 
variations of rainfall within the State, and even within the great 
valley. In 1903, for example, the rainfall at Eureka, Humboldt 
county, on the immediate coast, was 47.90 inches, and at San Diego 
but 6.09 inches. At Crescent City, Del Norte county, adjoining 
Humboldt (farther north), the rainfall reached 80.76 inches. At 
Redding, Shasta county (interior), the rainfall was 45.83 inches; 
at Red Bluff, forty miles south, 22.93 inches ; at Sacramento, 14.70 
inches; Fresno (center of San Joaquin valley), 6.19 inches; 
Bakersfield (extreme southern point of valley), 3.67 inches. In 
the Sierra Nevada mountains the rainfall increases about one inch 
for every one hundred feet elevation. 

The direction of the coast valleys exerts striking influence upon 
rainfall and temperature, dependent upon the facility for the 
trade winds to reach them. The climatic and agricultural char- 
acter of the foothills, up to 2,000 or 2,500 feet, is much the same 
as in the valley. Even higher fine deciduous fruits are grown. 
Still higher are the lumbering camps, mining, and thousands of 
cattle and sheep are herded in summer, where in winter the moun- 
tains are deeply covered with snow. Illustrative of the charac- 
teristic variations of climate it may be stated that in the vicinity 
of Truckee, Nevada county, elevation 5,819 feet, the temperature 
(February 13th) was 28 degrees below zero and the snowfall for 
the year was 130 inches. At Rocklin, Placer county, thirty miles 
west, elevation 249 feet, the lowest temperature was 28 degrees 
above. All the natural ice consumed in California was made near 
Truckee while oranges were being gathered for market around 
Rocklin. 

I have prepared the following table from the "An- 
Tempera- ^^^^^ Summary, California section, of the Weather 
ture. Bureau," for 1903. It shows not only temperature 

of points, but also rainfall, elevation of points above the sea, clear 
and cloudy days. I have taken illustrative points in Northern 
and Central California, the coast country and the mountains. It 
will be noted that while the annual mean temperature of the Pa- 
cific Coast does not differ greatly from the annual mean of the 
Atlantic Coast, the average summer and average winter here and 
on the Atlantic are wide apart, and the extremes between the high- 
est and lowest temperature are very great. It is this exemption 
from extremes of temperature that constitutes the charm, and 
healthfulness as well, of the Pacific Coast. 

In the interior, especially in the great valley, the seasons show 
greater extremes of temperature, but, as already suggested, the 
dryness of the air renders these extremes less felt than on the 
coast where the air is more moist. The limit of winter cold is the 
test of what may be grown rather than the average temperature. 



CLIMATE OF CALIFOENIA. 



19 



CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA FOR 1903. 



Station. 



County. 



< 



Temperature. 
(degrees Fahren- 
heit.) 






TO 
(t> 



O 



Precipita- 
tion. 
(inches) 



3 £-< 



o 



s 

V! 

a. 
p 
"-I 



Sky. 



p 



& 
p 



o 

o 

c 

p 



5' 
a 
o 



n 

CO 

p 

tr*- 
O 



Auburn 

Chieo 

Corning _. 

Marysville 

Napa 

Oroville 

Placerville 

Red Bluff--.. 

Roeklin 

Sacramento... 

San Jos6 

Vacaville . . . 

Willows 

Woodland 

Bakersfield .. . 

Fresno 

Porterville 

Stockton 

Eureka 

San Francisco. 
San L. Obispo- 
Santa Barbara 

Santa Cruz 

Suisun 

Watson ville ._ 

Boca 

Bodie 

Greenville ... 
Independence 

Laporte J.. 

Quincy 

Sisson 

Summit 

Susanville 

Tuhachapi 

Truckee 

Anaheim 

Imperial 

Los Angeles. . 

Redlands 

Riverside 

S. Bernardino. 



Placer 

Butte 

Tehama 

Yuba _ 

Napa 

Butte 

El Dorado ... 

Tehama 

Placer 

Sacramento.. 
Santa Clara.. 

Solano 

Glenn 

Yolo 

Kern.. 

Fresno 

Tulare 

San Joaquin . 
Humboldt ... 
San Francisco 
San L. Obispo 
Santa Barbara 
Santa Cruz... 

Solano 

Santa Cruz 

Nevada 

Mono 

Plumas 

Inyo 

Plumas 

Plumas 

Siskiyou 

Placer 

Lassen 

Kern 

Nevada 

Orange 

San Diego... . 
Los Angeles... 
S. Bernardino. 

Riverside 

S. Bernardino. 



1,360 

193 

277 

67 

60 

188 

1,820 

307 

249 

71 

95 

175 

136 

63 

40-i 

293 

461 

23 

64 

155 

201 

1.30 

18 

20 

23 

5,531 

8,248 

3,600 

3,907 

5,000 

3,400 

3,555 

7,017 

4,195 

3,964 

5,819 

134 

—65 

293 

1,352 

851" 

1,054 



63.0 
61.2 
62.6 
60.9 
57.5 
60.1 
54.2 
61.5 
62.0 
59.4 
58.3 
60.5 
60.3 
59.8 
61.7 
62.2 
62.4 
58.1 
51.8 
55.3 
58.5 
60.2 
55.5 
58.3 
58.4 
40.1 
35.8 



59.1 
46.2 
48.0 
49.5 
42.3 
46.4 
55.2 
43.4 
66.6 
74.6 
62.2 
63.3 
61.4 
62.6 



101 

106 

106 

109 

108 

108 

98 

108 

105 

102 

100 

109 

104 

100 

109 

108 

107 

103 

85 

96 

98 

95 

100 

109 

95 

88 

85 

103 

99 

87 

92 

101 

80 

93 

91 

94 

101 

124 

97 

108 

105 

110 



26 
20 
30 
27 
26 
23 
16 
27 
28 
29 
25 
27 
25 
26 
21 
25 
24 
24 
28 
37 
26 
32 
22 
28 
24 
-30 
-36 
—11 
14 
10 
—9 
2 
—8 
-11 

-28 
29 
26 
32 
25 
24 
22 



35.82 
22.76 
18.28 
19.48 
18.60 
24.14 
38.60 
22.93 
27.76 
14.70 
11.29 
21.27 
16.81 
12.39 
3.67 
6.19 
5.79 
15.16 
47.90 
18.33 
14.31 
13.06 
29.22 
14.66 
17.28 
10.82 
7.34 
35.99 
1.95 
77.04 
40.60 
33.86 
40.50 
15.14 
5.85 
27.69 
14..32 
.34 
14.77 
13.60 
10.43 
14.12 



102.0 

61.5 

78.5 

3.3 

211.3 
73.0 
66.0 

294.0 
65.0 
24.0 

130.0 



41 
44 
.36 
41 
48 
45 
60 
61 
46 
51 
42 
51 
36 
32 
24 
41 
36 
46 
117 
57 
37 
27 
38 
42 
39 
18 
26 
63 
12 
76 
55 
60 
52 
59 
17 
37 
25 
3 
30 
44 
31 
41 



222 
187 
240 
217 
223 
207 
258 
232 
267 
206 



81 

88 
18 
67 
75 
38 
17 
72 
27 
82 



231 
203 
236 
271 
2:S8 
217 
275 
99 
178 
246 
169 
288 
215 
151 
269 
156 
237 
218 
217 
214 
235 
276 
174 
242 
237 
145 
268 
148^ 
242' 



111 
85 
54 
62 
52 
103 
34 
105 
108 
64 
137 
22 
71 
124 
13 
127 
47 
81 
93 
86 


163 
3 

90 
87 
168 
62 
249 i 68 



62 
90 

107 
81 
67 

120 
90 
61 
71 



222 



95 



23 
77 
75 
32 
75 
45 
56 
161 
79 
55 
59 
55 
79 
90 
83 
82 
81 
66 
55 
65 
130 
89 
28 
120 
128 
130 
10 
49 
61 
48 
48 



1^ 
> a 






3 

o 



i 



And so we find citrus fruit flourishing from the north to the south 
end of the great valley, and orange-growing is a leading industry 
in several counties of that valley. In Southern California both 



V 



20 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

the heat and the cold are comparatively milder, although the read- 
ings of the thermometer do not much differ from points north of 
the Tehachapi. It is shown by the table that there were 178 clear 
days in San Francisco as against 148 in Los Angeles, during the 
year, although there were nearly twice as many rainy days in San 
Francisco. For abundant sunshine, resort must be had to the in- 
terior. For example, Red Bluff, in the north, had 232 clear days 
and Riverside, in the south, 249. In truth, the California of 
"Sunshine, Fruit and Flowers" is pretty near the whole State, 
below high mountain elevations. 

As far back as we have any recorded history, and 
Climate Un- behind this, embracing traditions coming through 
changing. the early Mission Fathers, we learn of the same 

equability of temperature, the same balmy atmos- 
phere, the same luxuriance of vegetation. Our soil may require 
renewing by fertilization, but our climate is as constant as the 
sun. The conditions which have produced the result are them- 
selves unchanging, and so must be the result. 

California is a universal sanitarium. The climate of 
It is Health- the coast is invigorating, stimulating and delightful, 
Giving. neither hot nor cold; the laborer knows no fatigue 

except from physical exhaustion resulting from over- 
taxed muscles. The brain-worker yields only to failure of mental 
powers. In the interior valleys, in midsummer, the temperature 
is higher, and there is discomfort at times while working in the 
harvest fields and at the desk and behind the counter. But the 
dryness of the air robs the thermometer of much of its terror. The 
sensible temperature, i. e., the temperature we in fact experience 
or feel in the valleys, is less irksome at 100 or 110 degrees than in 
regions of greater humidity of the atmosphere where the reading 
is from 85 to 95 degrees. Sunstroke here is unknown. It is the 
common experience of persons coming into almost any part of the 
State that they increase in weight and strength, are less troubled 
with nervous affections, sleep and eat well, and improve in health 
if ailing from any cause. 

The variety of temperature and climatic conditions 
SouFce of existing in the mountains, valleys and on the coast. 
Happiness, and the celerity and ease with which our inhabitants 
may change their immediate surroundings, consti- 
tute one of the great charms of California life. Thousands of 
families residing in the valleys find their way into the mountains 
or to the seacoast and have most delightful camping-out experi- 
ences; and this they may do in a few hours or a day or two at 
most, with their own conveyances. Our valleys and mountains 
lie so related to each other that no spot can be found devoid of 
scenic beauty. There is no dull monotony in the farmer's life as 
there is from necessity in the lives of those who reside on the great 
plain regions of the West, few of whom are ever permitted 
to enjoy the inspiring and elevating means of recreation and rest 
. from labor which are a part of our life here. 



CLIMATE OP CALIFORNIA. 21 

Degrees of latitude cut little figure in determining 
SomePeeul- the readings of the thermometer, which is not at all 
iarities. true on the Atlantic Coast and in the West. The 

above table tells the story from official sources for 
1903, and is valuable as covering the whole distance and interme- 
diate points, from San Diego near the south line of the State to 
Redding at the extreme north end of the Sacramento valley — 
eight degrees of latitude apart. 

The fact that latitude has little to do with our climate is a re- 
markable feature. It is not true of Italy, for there is a great varia- 
tion there between the temperature north and south. It is not 
true of France or elsewhere along the west coast of Europe. We 
believe this to be a peculiarity unique and found only on this 
coast. This peculiarity is further attested by the fact that in all 
this vast region the same fruits are grown. Within a radius of 
fifty miles around Oroville, which is 150 miles north of San Fran- 
cisco and 650 miles north of Los Angeles, there were more than 
one thousand carloads of oranges raised last year and shipped out 
of the State, and they ripen earlier than in the south. Elevation 
has much more to do with temperature than latitude, for in high 
altitudes we find snow. Our mountain summer climate is ex- 
tremely delightful and is destined to draw many Eastern people to 
the numerous charming retreats in the Sierra and the Coast Range. 
But after all is said, it must be conceded that climate 
Eeonomie is our greatest resource because of its high economic 
Value. value. The unthinking speak of climate as an at- 

traction rather than a resource, but it is a resource 
because by its influence we are enabled to so marvelously diver- 
sify and increase the number of our agricultural products; and 
often, too, all these products may be grown on the same body of 
land. It is a resource, because man's labor here can be profitably 
employed every day in the year; because there is no month when 
vegetation in some form is not growing, and because it furnishes 
ideal conditions for the growth of irrigated crops. There is no 
time when all nature is at rest or plant life is sleeping. In the 
field, orchard, garden, factory, and in the mines; on the stock 
farm and in the dairy, every day is a day of productive labor. We 
commence shipping fresh deciduous fruits in May and there is 
no cessation until December. In November we begin to ship citrus 
fruits and they overlap the deciduous fruits and continue in fact 
the year through. 

Professor E. W. Hilgard justly sums up the matter thus: 
"Taken as a whole, California corresponds in its climatic features 
and adaptation to the Mediterranean region of Europe and 
Africa— a grand Riviera, with a partial background of the desert 
as well, where the date palm and the ostrich find a congenial home, 
and alluvial plains equaling in richness the famed delta of the 
Nile." 



22 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

THE TRIUMPH OF IRRIGATION. 



By WILLIAM E. SMYTHE, 
Author of "The Conquest of Arid America." 



First of all, irrigation is not a substitute for rain. Rain is a 
substitute for irrigation, and a very poor one. Irrigation is an 
insurance policy on the crops. But it is far more. Irrigation 
is the mother of institutions! 

An ideal place would be one where it never rains in the grow- 
ing season, but where the genius of man, working in co-operation 
with favorable natural conditions, could direct the moisture just 
where and when it is needed, in accordance with the varying needs 
of different crops. This ideal condition is approximated in a 
large part of the arid region, including the major portion of 
California. 

The most striking effect of this ancient art, which has now 
become the inspiration of remarkable modern developments, is 
its social influence. In this respect it revolutionizes the character 
of rural life. For irrigation means small farms; small farms 
mean near neighbors; and near neighbors imply high social ad- 
vantages. The best examples of irrigation communities combine 
the most attractive features of town and country life. They give 
at the same time the benefits of neighborhood association and the 
independence that comes from living on the soil. The result is 
a high degree of equality such as is seldom realized elsewhere. In 
many a California colony the homes are as beautiful as in the fa- 
mous suburbs of Boston and Philadelphia, and these beautiful 
homes belong to the many, while those in the suburbs of great 
Eastern cities represent the few who have succeeded better than 
the average. 

Irrigation is the great teacher of co-operation. Men are com- 
pelled to associate and organize in distributing water over their 
lands. From this experience it is easy to go forward to similar 
association in the sale of their products and the purchase of their 
supplies. For they soon learn that it is better to work with and 
for each other than against each other. This form of economic 
development is yet in its infancy, but is destined to extend in all 
directions and to have a very important influence on the future 
civilization of the irrigated region. 

The artificial control of moisture supplies the basis of abso- 
lutely scientific agriculture. The element of chance is wholly 
eliminated. Man asserts his control over the forces of nature. 
Among other desirable results, he gains the power of diversifying 
his crops to the utmost degree and thus becoming self-sufficient. 
With him, the rain does not fall upon the just and the unjust— 
that is to say, upon crops that need it and crops that do not need 



24 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

it. The strawberry vines may call for moisture in their own un- 
mistakable language, and the call is promptly answered. The 
sugar-beets may crave only the uninterrupted sunshine in order 
that they may pack the largest possible amount of saccharine 
matter in their tiny cells, and the water is allowed to go singing 
past them. Thus, individuals and communities may become in- 
dependent. National prosperity may pass and hard times come 
in its place, but the man who has a few acres of irrigated soil will 
continue to collect his living so long as water runs down hill and 
Mother Earth yields her increase. 

The most famous spots in California were evoked from desert 
or sheep-pasture by the miracle of irrigation. It does not follow 
that all parts of the State are worthless for agriculture or horti- 
culture without it. But it is true, as Major John W. Powell said 
years ago, that "there is probably no acre of land in the United 
States the productive capacity of which would not be at least 
doubled by scientific irrigation." This is emphatically true of 
California, and the industry is being gradually extended into many 
localities which once proudly advertised that "no irrigation is 
needed. ' ' 

To those who are unfamiliar with it the actual 
How Water process of irrigation seems a deep mystery. They 
Is Put Upon regard it as an effort to overturn the laws of nature. 
The Land. The truth is that it is a perfectly natural process. 
The man who waters his plat of grass, and the 
woman who waters her dooryard pansies, are irrigators in a 
humble way. The citizen who grumbles at the sight of withered 
lawns in a public park during a dry summer yearns for irrigation 
without knowing it. 

The control of water for irrigation presents about the same 
problems to the engineer as the control of water for domestic 
purposes in large cities and towns. The water must be diverted 
from a flowing stream at a level high enough to command the ter- 
ritory to be irrigated; or it must be impounded in reservoirs at 
a season of floods or unusual flow, such as occurs everywhere 
when the ice and snow are melting; or it must be sought in the 
bowels of the earth by means of wells and lifted to the surface by 
pumps, except in the case of artesian waters, which flow out of 
the mouth of the well by reason of their own pressure. 

The principal difference between securing a supply for domestic 
and for agricultural purposes is that in the case of the former the 
water must be as pure as possible, while in the case of the latter 
the impurities which gather in ponds and streams have a distinct 
commercial value as fertilizers. The sewage of Paris is used for 
irrigation purposes with wonderful results, and the same thing is 
done in several Western cities, including Los Angeles. 

Irrigation works range from rude and simple ditches, taking 
their supplies from mountain brooks where the water has been 
diverted by means of small brush dams, to great masonry walls 
which block the outlet of deep canyons, holding back the water, 



THE TRIUMPH OP IRRIGATION. 25 

which is thence transported through pipes, flumes and cemented 
ditches to rich lands miles away. In the one case the works have 
been constructed by a small association of farmers, using their 
own labor and teams; in the other, millions of Eastern and 
foreign capital have been invested. In both cases water is led 
through main canals to central points in the territory to be re- 
claimed. These mains are of all sizes, depending entirely upon 
the volume of water required. From the mains lateral ditches 
reach out in various directions. The farmer taps the lateral with 
a shallow ditch, usually made with a plow, and thus conducts the 
water where he wants it through his own private system of dis- 
tributers. The management of the water, when the system has 
once been perfected, is so simple that a child can attend to it. 

In the hands of the Indians and Mexicans of the southwest irri- 
gation was a stagnant art, but the white population studied it with 
the same enthusiasm it bestowed upon electricity and new mining 
processes. The lower races merely knew that if crops were ex- 
pected to grow on dry land they must be artifically watered. They 
proceeded to pour on the water by the rudest method. The Anglo- 
Saxon demanded to know why crops required water, and when it 
could be best supplied to meet their diverse needs. 

The earliest method of irrigation is known as "flooding," and 
is usually applied by means of shallow basins. A plot of ground 
near the river or ditch from which water is to be drawn is in- 
closed by low embankments called checks. These checks are mul- 
tiplied until the whole field is covered. The water is then drawn 
to the highest basin, permitted to stand until the land is thoroughly 
soaked, and then drawn off by way of a small gate into the next 
basin. This process is repeated until the entire field is irrigated. 
This is the system practiced on the Nile, where the basins some- 
times cover several square miles each, while in the West they are 
often no more than four hundred feet square. 

There is both a crude and a skillful way to accomplish the opera- 
tion of flooding, and there is a wide difference in the results ob- 
tained by the two methods. Indian and Mexican irrigators seldom 
attempt to grade the surface of the ground. They permit water 
to remain in stagnant pools where there are depressions, while high 
places stand out as dusty islands for generations. All except very 
sandy soils bake in the hot sunshine after being flooded, and the 
crude way to remedy the matter is to turn on more water. Water 
in excess is an injury, and both the soil and the crops resent this 
method of treatment. 

The skillful irrigator grades the soil to an even slope of about 
one inch to every hundred inches, filling depressions and leveling 
high places. He "rushes" the water over the plot as rapidly as 
possible and, when the ground has dried sufficiently, cultivates 
the soil thoroughly, thus allowing the air to penetrate it. The 
best irrigators have abandoned the check system altogether and 
invented better methods of flooding the crops. Cereals and grasses 
must always be irrigated by flooding, but the check system seems 



26 



CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 



likely to remain only in localities where Spanish speech and tradi- 
tions survive. Flooding is now more generally accomplished by 
means of shallow indentations or creases, which are not as large 
as furrows, but serve the same purpose. These are made by a 
simple implement at intervals of about twelve inches. They ef- 
fect a very thorough and even wetting of the ground. 

The scientific side of irrigation is to be studied in 
The Most connection with the cultivation of fruits and vege- 
Seientifle tables rather than with field crops. It is here that 
Way. the English-speaking irrigators of California pro- 

duced their best results. The ideal climatic condi- 
tions attracted both wealth and intelligence into the irrigation 




IRRIGATING DITCH — LINED WITH CEMENT. 

industry. Scarcity of water and high land values promoted the 
study of the best methods. Where water is abundant it is carried 
in open ditches and little thought is given to loss by seepage and 
evaporation. Under such conditions water is lavishly used, fre- 
quently to the injury rather than to the benefit of crops. But there 
are parts of California where water is as gold and is sought for 
in mountain tunnels and in the beds of streams. A thing so dearly 
obtained is not to be carelessly wasted before it reaches the place 
of use. Hence, steep and narrow ditches cemented on the bottom, 
or steel pipes and wooden fiumes, are employed. 

The precious water is applied to the soil by means of small fur- 
rows run between the trees or rows of vegetables. The ground 
has first been evenly graded on the face of each slope. The aim 



THE TRIUMPH OF IRRIGATION. 



27 



of the skillful irrigator is to allow the water to saturate the ground 
evenly in each direction, so as to reach the roots of the tree or 
plant. The stream is small, and creeps slowly down the furrow 
to the end of the orchard, where any surplus is absorbed by a 
strip of alfalfa, acting like a sponge. The land is kept thoroughly 
cultivated. In the best orchards no weed or spear of grass is ever 
seen, for water is too costly to waste in the nourishment of weeds. 
Moreover, it is desired to leave the soil open to the action of air 
and sunshine. Nowhere in the world is so much care given to the 
aeration of the soil as in the irrigated orchards and gardens of 
California. Too much water reduces the temperature of the soil, 
sometimes develops hardpan and, more frequently, brings alkali to 




IRBIGATING PRUNE ORCHARD TREES IN BLOOM. 

the surface. For these reasons, modern science has enforced the 
economical use of water, reversing the Mexican custom of prodigal 
wastefulness. 

Of late years the application of water by furrows has been 
brought to a marvelous degree of perfection. What is known 
as the "Redlands system" is the best type of irrigation method 
known in the world. Under this system a small wooden flume or 
box is placed at head of the orchard. An opening is made oppo- 
site each furrow and through this the water flows in the desired 
quantity, being operated by a small gate or slide. The aperture 
regulates the flow of water accurately and the system is so simple 
that, after it is once adjusted, it is as easy as the turning of a 
faucet. The farmer who grows his crops on a fertile soil, under 



28 



CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 



almost cloudless skies, with a system controlling the moisture as 
effective as this, may be said to have mastered the forces of nature. 
The quality of the fruit has improved immensely since the Cali- 
fornia methods were perfected. Every fruit-grower realizes that 
the profit in his business comes mostly from the first grade of fruit. 
Scientific irrigation makes it possible for him largely to increase the 
percentage of the best fruit, and the difference which this produces 
in the earning capacity of his acres is surprising. 

The Mission Fathers gave the natives their first les- 
The Field of sons in the art of irrigation, and the beautiful gardens 
Operations, and orchards which sprang up in the early religious 

communities illustrated the agricultural possibilities 
inherent in California soil and sunshine. But the modern era of 




FLOODING THE ORCHARD — WATER-TENDER AT WORK. 



irrigation began fifty years ago with the founding of Anaheim, 
some twenty miles southeast of Los Angeles, by a colony of German- 
Americans. Anaheim is rightfully proud of its distinction as the 
mother colony. 

Far more widely celebrated, however, are Riverside and the 
numerous settlements which came into being as the consequence of 
its example and influence. Among these are Ontario, Pomona, 
Etiwanda, Corona, Redlands and many others. These famous com- 
munities represent the maximum achievement in home-building on 
irrigated lands, and have no real rivals in any part of the world, 
so far as skill in the application of water and beauty of public 
and private improvements are concerned. All that was said at 
the beginning of this article about the peculiar social and economic 



THE TRIUMPH OF IRRIGATION. 



29 



advantages arising from scientific control of moisture is strikingly 
illustrated in scores of Southern California communities. 

The streams in this part of the State are wholly of torrential 
character, and during the larger portion of the year present 
nothing but dry channels over most of their courses. But during 
the rainy season they are often roaring rivers for a few days at 
a time, while a considerable flow is maintained by the melting 
snows much later. The canals first built upon these streams ob- 
tain most of their supply from the surface flow, but later canals 
depend upon the water which has been caught and held in storage 
reservoirs or upon that obtained from deep wells, some of which 
are of true artesian character and flow by means of their own 
pressure. The hunt for water goes on relentlessly from year to 




IKKIGATING STRAWBERRIES. 



year, for it is the foundation of all values in this arid land. What 
individuals may do alone, or small farming communities by means 
of co-operation, has been largely done. What is now to be ac- 
complished by the hand of united and associated man we shall 
shortly see. 

Although Southern California was first to utilize irrigation, 
this is by no means the largest field of the industry. The beau- 
tiful southern counties enjoy a fame wholly out of proportion to 
their geographical area, which is greatly to their credit, and which 
is due to their success in putting water upon the land far more 
than to any other single factor. But it is the region north of the 
Pass of Tehachapi which was endowed by nature with the greatest 



30 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

valleys of fertile soil and the most abundant supplies of water 
available for irrigation. The climate, too, is fully equal to that 
of the south in productive capacity. Indeed, the earliest fruit of 
every kind, including oranges, is grown hundreds of miles north 
of Los Angeles. It is difficult to convince Eastern people that this 
is true, because of their inherited prejudices as to the meaning of 
northern and southern latitudes, but it is, nevertheless, a fact 
beyond all dispute. 

The great interior basin of California, inclosed between the Coast 
Range and the Sierra, extends north and south of the bay of San 
Francisco for hundreds of miles in either direction. The southern 
portion of it, known as the San Joaquin, has a number of great 
irrigation systems, any one of which supplies more land than is 
irrigated in the famous valleys of Southern California. In addi- 
tion to these great systems, there are many smaller ones. Per- 
haps the most striking development is that in the neighborhood of 
Fresno, which is the center of the raisin district. Here a very poor 
cattle country has been converted into a land of small diversified 
farms, sustaining a comparatively dense population. 

The great valley of the Sacramento, constituting the northern 
half of the great interior basin, is even more abundantly watered 
so far as the natural supply is concerned, but is far more back- 
ward in irrigation development. This is due to the fact that rain- 
fall is heavier and more reliable, so that crops are raised without 
artificial moisture. The Sacramento region is now in the stage 
of transition from large to small farms and irrigation is being 
rapidly extended in consequence. 

In the beautiful coast region the same general statement is true, 
although the small farm unit has preceded irrigation in many lo- 
calities. Certain classes of fruit are raised successfully by means 
of the winter rainfall, but the productive capacity of the soil is 
greatly enhanced by irrigation. Not only so, but irrigation makes 
it possible to diversify the crops to the last degree and to take full 
advantage of the wonderful climate by raising successive crops of 
small fruits and vegetables. This explains the rapid spread of 
the art in all portions of the State. 

Besides the celebrated districts in the north and south, with 
which all travelers and readers are more or less familiar, there are 
undiscovered Calif ornias lying away from the railroad lines and 
scarcely known to Calif ornians themselves, yet full of potentialities 
of development. These are on the eastern slopes of the Sierra, bor- 
dering Oregon on the north, Nevada on the east, and Mexico on 
the south. The most promising of these districts are the Honey 
Lake region, the Inyo country and the vast valley of the Rio 
Colorado. 

As a whole, it may be said that the irrigation industry of Cali- 
fornia is yet in its infancy. What has so far been done is little 
more than the foreshadowing of the great achievement which is 
to come, for something great has happened in the last two years. 



THE TRIUMPH OF IRRIGATION. 31 

Private and small co-operative enterprises have done 
TheAwak- what they could to assist California in the realiza- 
ening- of tion of its economic destiny. And they have done 
Uncle Sam. well. But the task is too great for any power short 
of the General Government itself to carry to a suc- 
cessful conclusion. It is to be the labor not of years, but of gen- 
erations, even of centuries. It is to cost not millions, but tens of 
millions. It is to benefit not individuals and local communities 
alone, but states, a nation, humanity. And its dividends are to 
be paid, not in pecuniary terms, but in lasting institutions, in 
the economic freedom of the race. 

The act approved June 17, 1902— the anniversary of the battle 
of Bunker Hill— started California on a new era of develop- 
ment. The money provided for the work of national irrigation is 
meager — the fund now amounts to something over twenty mil- 
lions—but the principle established is of incalculable importance. 
Already national engineers are at work in making plans on two 
California streams for irrigation systems as great as those built 
by British genius on the Ganges and the Nile. These streams are 
the Sacramento in the north and the Colorado in the south. When 
these are completed the foundations will be laid for millions of 
new population and hundreds of millions of new taxable wealth. 
These systems may be made to provide not only for irrigation, but 
also for drainage of lands now rendered useless by annual over- 
flow, and may also assist in the provision of facilities for navigation 
and for power. 

The greatest single example of the triumph of irrigation in 
California is seen in the big region formerly known as the Colorado 
desert. This is the delta of the river of that name, in the extreme 
southeastern part of the State, extending over the border of 
Mexico. Here daring private enterprise has undertaken what 
would have been an ideal task for the Government itself — the rec- 
lamation of something like a million acres of the most fertile land 
in the world. 

So recently as January 1, 1901, not a single white man dwelt in 
the region, and even Indians were scarce. On January 1, 1902, a 
party of a dozen surveyors had the place to themselves. On Janu- 
ary 1, 1903, two thousand settlers had arrived. On January 1, 
1904, there were, approximately, ten thousand people there, with 
several towns, a railroad, telegraph, telephone, many stores, a 
national bank, and with seventy thousand acres in actual cultiva- 
tion. It sounds like a tale from the Arabian Nights, but it is ab- 
solutely true. And even the truth of today is pale compared with 
the promise of tomorrow. A great river brought under human 
control makes all the difference between hopeless desolation and 
the highest forms of civilization. 

California beckons to the waiting millions. By the grace of irri- 
gation she can make room for them all, and not only make room 
for them, but give them a degree of social equality and economic 
independence such as no other land on the face of the earth was 



32 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

ever able to offer them. To those who want homes, who want to 
work for themselves, who want to provide a future for their chil- 
dren, California spells Opportunity. 



THE MINERAL WEALTH OF CALIFORNIA. 



By lewis E. AUBURY, 
State Mineralogist. 



The world is familiar in a general way with the mineral wealth 
of our State, and the name of California is always associated with 
golden products; but while gold has in the past been the chief 
mineral, and will be for some time to come, there are added al- 
most yearly new discoveries of mineral substances of economic 
value. 

There has been a large increase in building operations in Cali- 
fornia within recent years, and with the prosperity that the State 
is now enjoying, it is reasonable to suppose it will continue for a 
long time to come. Builders and contractors have sought to avail 
themselves of the material within our borders, but while Nature 
has been kind to us and has supplied us with an abundance of raw 
material, man has been slow to take advantage of the gifts, and 
we find that instead of such material being entirely supplied at 
home, thousands of dollars' worth is annually imported. Not- 
withstanding there was $4,109,023 worth of structural materials 
produced in this State during the year 1902, an increase over the 
previous year of $1,161,748, the supply was not large enough to 
meet the demand. 

Until recent years a large percentage of California's buildings 
in cities as well as towns were constructed of lumber ; but as modern 
construction calls for fire-proof material of steel, brick and stone, 
there is no reason why the demand should not be supplied from 
sources right at home. Excellent opportunities are offered for 
the quarrying of granite, marble, sandstone, serpentine, slate, vol- 
canic tufa, and other building-stones. 

Limes and clays are found in deposits contiguous to one an- 
other, from which the finest Portland cement can be manufac- 
tured. At present there are three established plants manufactur- 
ing cement in the State, and the demand is such that there is 
need for other plants. During 1902, 171,000 barrels of cement, 
valued at $423,600, were produced. 

With the demand which is being made for exterior building 
material, equally so is the necessity for supplying interior decora- 
tive material, such as marble, onyx, travertine, serpentine, etc. 



THE MINERAL WEALTH OF CALIFORNIA. 33 

California abounds in these products, and splendid opportunities 
exist for capital to open quarries to supply the demand. 

In addition to structural material, a demand is also made for 
terra cotta, and pressed and glazed brick. Our very extensive 
clay beds, which can be found from Siskiyou to San Diego, and 
which are but little developed, offer desirable material to meet 
all requirements. In addition, many clay deposits have been 
found from which a superior quality of decorative pottery can be 
manufactured. We produced in 1902, of pottery clays, 67,933 
tons, valued at $74,633; and of brick clays, 169,851 M., worth 
$1,306,215. 

To exemplify the structural materials we produce, an arch 
composed of the products from our leading quarries has been 
erected at the entrance of the California Mines Exhibit at the St. 
Louis Exposition. 

California has large deposits of iron ores, and at 
Iron Ores, present we are confronted with the problem of a 
supply of hard fuel for smelting this ore, and under 
present conditions the cost of a desirable natural coke is prohibi- 
tive in order that we can compete favorably with the Eastern 
market. The solving of this problem, I believe, will be met by the 
manufacture of an artificial coke. Experiments in a small way 
have been conducted with our California coal combined with 
petroleum and other substances, and a product has been obtained 
which appears to meet the demands. 

We are producers of many mineral substances the raw product 
of which is shipped beyond our borders for reduction and refin- 
ing. There is no reason for sending these away for manipulation, 
as better facilities for the reduction of both metallic and non- 
metallic substances can not be found outside of this State. With 
abundant electric power and the low price at which California 
fuel oil can be obtained, added to abundant transportation facili- 
ties by both rail and water, there should be no reason why the 
products of California should not be reduced in California. 

To cite instances, let us consider that of copper. During the 
year 1902 there were produced in this State 27,860,162 pounds, 
of the value of $3,239,975 ; and for sixteen years prior to that time, 
164,324,845 pounds, of the value of $23,028,312, all of which were 
shipped outside the State, principally in the form of matte and 
blister copper, to Eastern points for refining. 

Of non-metallic substances there were produced of borax, covering 
the same period, 281,476,000 pounds, of the value of $12,693,643. 
This vast quantity was also largely shipped East and refined there. 
LithiaMiea, ^ comparatively new industry which has been 
OP opened in the past five years is that of lithia mica, 

Lepidolite. which is found in San Diego county. During that 
time, 2,486 tons were produced, of the value of $74,980, and the 
product of the mines was shipped to Germany and reduced, and 
a large portion was returned to us in the form of lithia salts and 
tablets. 



34 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

The above are cited as three instances to show the quantity and 
value of these substances, and to illustrate some of the possibilities 
where refining could be carried on at home. 

With the recent development of the oil industry and 
Magnesite. its large use as fuel it has been found necessary to 
supply some resistant material which would with- 
stand the enormous heat developed in burning crude oils. Ex- 
periments were conducted with many different fire clays, but it 
has been found that among other substances, magnesite seems to 
meet all requirements, and on account of this there is annually 
imported from foreign countries a vast amount of magnesite 
bricks which are used principally in fireboxes where oil is burned 
as fuel. Deposits of a superior magnesite in almost unlimited 
quantities are found .here, favorably situated for transportation, 
and thus the development of the oil industry opens an inviting 
field to exploit another industry, which is largely dependent 
upon it. 

The output of magnesite in 1902 was 2,830 tons, worth $20,655. 
The magnesite produced, however, was used principally in chemical 
manufacture, and it yet remains for capital to establish a plant 
for the manufacture of magnesite bricks, for which there is an 
eager m^-rket. 

Owing to the prospector's greater familiarity with the 
y i^ ^. precious metals his time has been mainly devoted to 

n ustpy. them. It is possible, also, that owing to his lack of 
knowledge of gems and their inclosing formations he has until 
recently overlooked a field which bids fair to be of great impor- 
tance. Southern California is the locality where the greatest de- 
velopments have been made in the gem industry. In the past 
year the new lilac gem, spodumene, which has been termed 
"Kunzite," was discovered near Pala, San Diego county. This 
was the chief gem discovery in the United States during the year 
1903. Many peculiar properties are possessed by this gem, and 
independent of its value as a gem it is attracting the general at- 
tention of the scientific world. 

In San Diego county has also been found many beautiful tour- 
malines, the product in 1902 amounting to $150,000. San Ber- 
nardino county produces a fine grade of turquoise, and in 1902 
produced $11,600 worth of this gem. Chrysoprase is also being 
mined in Tulare county. New discoveries of fine rubellite and 
other tourmalines have been made in Riverside county. Besides 
the above mentioned, many diamonds of good quality have been 
found, principally in the gravels of the hydraulic mines. 

Topaz, both white and blue, have been found also in California. 
Magnificent spessartite garnets have been found in San Diego 
county. Massive green vesuvianite, which greatly resembles jade, 
has been found in Siskiyou and Tulare counties. The name * ' Cali- 
fornite" has been given it. 

Gems of minor importance have been found distributed over a 
large area, and with intelligent prospecting the gem mines of 
California will probably yield great returns. 



THE MINERAL WEALTH OF CALIFORNIA. 



35 



It is held by some miners and metallurgists that al- 
NiteF. most every mineral can be found in California, and 
while the statement is broad, discoveries of new 
products are constantly being made. One of the most important 
to the State from a commercial standpoint was the discovery of 
nitrate of soda in San Bernardino and Inyo counties, in the Death 
Valley region. Some of these deposits were discovered years ago 
and prior to the advent of the Santa Fe Railroad, but on account 
of the long distance of transportation it was found to be out of 
the question to work them profitably. But now that the new Salt 
Lake Railroad and the branches of the Santa Fe are approach- 
ing them, renewed interest will be taken, and in all probability 




TWENTY-MULE TEAM HAULING BORAX. 

within a short period another important industry will be added 
to the many which are in profitable operation now. 

A rough examination of the niter deposits has disclosed the fact 
that in area they exceed those of Chile, but sufficient exploitation 
has not been carried on to determine the depth of the deposits and 
actual percentage that can be obtained, except in a limited num- 
ber of claims. To furnish an idea of the importance of the in- 
dustry, and the steadily increasing demand for niter in the United 
States, a few figures may not be amiss. In the year 1891 there 
were imported 99,663 metric tons of niter, valued at $2,579,930; 
for the year 1900, 185,022 tons, valued at $4,868,520 ; or an aver- 
age value of $26.31 per ton. In considering the matter of niter 
production and consumption we should remember that the Chilean 



36 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

fields, from which we draw our supply, are gradually being ex- 
hausted, and that our soils which need fertilization, and our 
power manufacturers, are making increasing demands upon those 
deposits. It is only a question of a short time when these demands 
must be met, and this State will be looked to for the necessary 
supply. The deposits in California offer a promising opportunity 
for profitable investigation. 

This important commodity is at present being pro- 
Salt, duced to a large extent by solar evaporation from 

sea water, although a portion of the product is fur- 
nished by the desert deposits, in what is known as Salton Basin. 
The inland deposits are of the finest quality, and so extensive 
that California exceeds any state in the Union in the extent and 
quality of its salt deposits; and as more convenient means of 
transportation are afforded, this industry is continually increas- 
ing in importance. To illustrate the growth of it in this State, 
in 1887 there were produced 28,000 tons, valued at $112,000; and 
in 1902, 115,208 tons, valued at $205,876; or a total production 
in sixteen years of 924,288 tons, valued at $2,431,452. As the con- 
stant increase of population in California and commercial re- 
quirements mean an increased demand for salt, opportunity is 
also here presented for investment. 

Like many other of the minerals produced in Cali- 
Copper. fornia, it has been only in recent years that the 

copper industry has received much attention, and it 
was not until 1897 that the amount of production had assumed 
large proportions, although the history of copper mining in Cali- 
fornia dates back to the early sixties. 

Copper has been found in practically every county in the State, 
the largest proportion of the metal produced being from Shasta 
county, where active development began in 1896. 

The industry has grown from a production, in 1887, of 1,600,- 
000 pounds, valued at $192,000, to 27,860,162 pounds, valued at 
$3,239,975, in 1902. In the year 1901, copper to the extent of 
$5,501,782 was mined, and for a period extending from 1887 to 
and including 1902, there were produced 164,324,845 pounds of 
copper, valued at $23,028,312. 

A continuous copper belt, the longest so far discovered in the 
world, exists in California. But a comparatively small depth has 
been so far attained in the mines, and the results have been very 
profitable. Many excellent prospects have been discovered along 
this belt, but the lack of necessary capital has retarded develop- 
ment. A large proportion of the mines and prospects are situated 
convenient to railroad transportation, and abundant facilities 
exist for the economical mining and reduction of the ores. Copper 
mining is yet in its infancy in California, and while its per- 
manency is assured, capital is needed for the proper development. 
While there are certain favored sections, other localities present 
equally good inducements, and at much lower figures than in 
some sections where permanent mines have been developed. 



THE MINERAL WEALTH OP CALIFORNIA. 37 

In the limited space of an article of this character it is impos- 
sible to treat this subject as it deserves, and to those desiring 
more particular information, the reader is referred to the "Copper 
Resources of California," published by the California State Min- 
ing Bureau, in which is given a full list of the copper mines and 
prospects in the State, together with the localities in which they 
are to be found, names and addresses of owners, etc. 

California is the only state in the Union that pro- 
Quieksilvep. duces any commercial amount of quicksilver. In 

the year 1902, in the relative rank of minerals pro- 
duced, quicksilver occupied the sixth place, with a record of 
29,552 flasks, valued at $1,276,524. This mineral was mined as 
far back as 1850 at the New Almaden mine, in Santa Clara 
county, which was the sole producer until 1860, when the large 
demand for quicksilver caused an active interest in development. 



m 




■ 

i. 


^V^l 




1 


i 


Mk 


1 




■ 


♦■*- 


,— >^ 


i 


^ 


HK^_^^ 


™ 


w^M 



LAKGEST QUICKSILVER MINE IN THE WORLD NEW ALMADEN. 

From July, 1850, to April, 1896, there were produced from New 
Almaden 953,018 flasks of 761/2 pounds each, or 36,452.94 tons of 
quicksilver. From 1887 to and including 1902 there were pro- 
duced from the various mines 464,529 flasks of quicksilver, valued 
at $19,194,773. For many years the total annual value of pro- 
duction has varied comparatively little. 

Quicksilver has been found principally in the coast counties, 
and while occurrences have been noted in the Sierra Nevada 
range, the deposits in this range have not so far been found to 
be of importance. In the past three years a renewed interest has 
been taken in quicksilver mining, and several old mines have been 
reopened. Comparatively little development work has been per- 
formed on prospects, of which there are many promising ones, 
principally in the counties of Lake, Colusa, Napa, Sonoma, Santa 
Clara, San Benito, San Luis Obispo, Fresno, Monterey and Merced. 
No mineral substance has of recent years proved 
Petpoleum. of so much importance to California as petroleum. 
While the permanence of the oil fields was questioned 
at the time they were but partly developed, there is at present no 
doubt as to the large supply which will be available to meet all 



38 



CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 



requirements for many years to come. The oil industry is in its 
infancy, and the oil reservoirs have scarcely been touched— those 
which underlie the great San Joaquin valley, the region south of 
Tehachapi and the valleys of the coast counties. 

The price of oil has remained for some time at a low figure, 
but in my opinion it will be but a short time when the producer 
will obtain a much better price ; and while making it highly profit- 
able to him, oil will be sold at such a figure as to allow the con- 
sumer to use it much more economically than hard fuels. Cali- 
fornia was not prepared to use such a large amount of petroleum 
as was so suddenly thrown upon the market. The use of oil as a 
fuel on this coast was new, and until it had been developed that 




KERN RIVER on, FIELDS. 



a permanent supply was available, those requiring fuel were skep- 
tical and were in no haste to adopt it. Now that the question of 
supply has been satisfactorily settled, changes have been rapidly 
made from hard to liquid fuel, and its manifold advantages are 
made apparent to the consumer. 

The growth of this important industry may be shown by the 
production of petroleum in 1887, which was 678,572 barrels, valued 
at $1,357,144, and the production of 1902, which was 14,356,910 
barrels, worth $4,692,189, thus giving it second place in relative 
value of minerals produced for that year. The total production 
of petroleum from 1887 to and including 1902 was 39,680,217 
barrels, valued at $27,067,997. 



THE MINERAL WEALTH OF CALIFORNIA. 



39 



Gold still maintains the lead in the mineral products 

Gold. of California. As new methods for the economical 

mining and reduction of gold are being introduced, 

the large amount of low-grade ores which in the past were not 

workable are now attracting the attention of investors. Electric 

power transmission lines have been constructed through most of 

the districts of Northern and Central California, thus reducing 

an important item of cost. Through Southern California, in most 

of the mining districts, crude oil is used almost exclusively, and 

many desert mines which would have found it impossible to operate 

to advantage but for a cheap liquid fuel are now being developed. 

Since the anti-debris law went into effect, hydraulic mining has 




GOLD DEEDGING OROVILLE. 

been carried on chiefly in Northern California where the streams 
empty into the Pacific Ocean and not into navigable rivers. In 
the regions where this class of mining was formerly carried on, 
and where the debris law caused a cessation of hydraulic mining, 
drift mining is being vigorously prosecuted. These old channels 
extend from Siskiyou county in the north to Tuolumne county in 
the south— several hundred miles. 

Where the inany mountain streams empty into the 
Dredging, Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys immense quan- 
tities of gold-bearing gravel have been deposited, and 
in order to recover the gold, dredges of different types have been 
introduced, which elevate the gravel, separate the coarse material 
and stack it to one side, the finer gravel containing the gold being 



40 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

passed over plates and riffles which recover it. The first dredge 
was installed at Oroville, Butte county, and the success which it 
met caused the employment of many others in that vicinity. Many 
improvements have been made, which have very materially re- 
duced the cost of operation, until at the present time the larger 
dredges are able to handle the gravel at a cost approximately of 
4I/2 cents per cubic yard. The gravel varies in value from 10 to 
50 cents per cubic yard, although in some instances the latter 
value is exceeded. So successful were the dredging operations 
around Oroville that numerous companies have in the past few 
years commenced operations in many other localities, and dredge 
mining today offers one of the safest classes of investments that 
can be made. 

The gold-bearing ores of California are mostly free milling and 
concentrating in character, and where this condition does not exist 
the ores are amenable to cyanide treatment. As stated before, 
many improvements have been made in the treatment of our ores, 
and the high percentages now saved have made it possible to work 
many old mines at a handsome profit, where a few years since they 
could not be made to yield more than expenses. 

California at present yields between $16,000,000 and $17,000,000 
annually in gold, and from 1848 to January 1, 1903, has yielded 
the immense sum of $1,379,275,408. These figures, which are offi- 
cial, offer more evidence of the fact that California's gold mines 
are still large producers than any other argument which could be 
submitted. 

The aggregate value of the fifty-one mineral products which are 
listed for 1902 is $35,069,105. This amount is increasing at the 
average rate of about $2,000,000 yearly. 

The purpose of this article has been to call attention in a general 
way to the opportunities for profitable investment in the various 
mineral products of the State; but as lack of space precludes the 
possibility of entering into full details of each subject, for the in- 
formation of those who are interested in investments in mineral 
products it is stated that detailed information has been published 
in the reports and bulletins which have been issued by the State 
Mining Bureau, Ferry Building, San Francisco. Also, mineral 
maps of the counties, on which are shown the location of the mines 
and deposits. Accompanying these maps are registers (or keys), 
with information concerning each of the mines or deposits. The 
Bureau also prepares an annual statistical bulletin, which fur- 
nishes the amount of each mineral product and the county in 
which it is produced. The last bulletin of this nature was issued 
for the year 3902, the production for 1903 not yet having been 
compiled. 



THE OIL INDUSTRY OF CALIFORNIA. 41 



THE OIL INDUSTRY OF CALIFORNIA. 



By dr. C. T. DEANE. 

Secretary of the California Petroleum Miners' Association. 



While for twenty-five years or 'more there has been general 
knowledge of the existence of petroleum in California, it has only 
been during the past five years that the great importance of its 
discovery has been adequately appreciated. 

Development work at different points has determined the ex- 
istence of a well-defined oil belt, stretching along the foothills the 
entire length of the State. It has been traced beyond our boun- 
dary, both north and south ; spurs branch out toward the coast, and 
even into the ocean, as the Summer! and district at Santa Barbara 
and the district lately developed in the northern part of Santa 
Barbara county. 

Some of the districts now in course of development produce an 
oil of 30 degrees gravity, while others go as low as 140 degrees; it 
is all, however, valuable, even in its crude state, for either fuel or 
refining, and unlike Texas oil, is free from sulphur. 

The production of oil during the last four years has been as 
follows : 

1900 4,000,000 barrels 

1901 8,000,000 

1902 13,000,000 

1903 23,000,000 

1904 estimated over 30,000,000 

In 1902 California was the second state in the Union in the pro- 
duction of crude oil. I have no doubt that at the present time she 
stands first. 

The producing fields, beginning at the southern end 
Produeing of the State, are as follows: Fullerton, Puente, 
Fields. Whittier, Los Angeles, Newhall, Ventura, Summer- 

land, Santa Maria or Northern Santa Barbara district, 
Kern River, Sunset and Midway, McKittrick, Coalinga, Santa 
Clara county, and Half Moon Bay. None of these fields, with 
perhaps the exception of Los Angeles, has as yet been brought into 
full production. 

The greatest oil field yet developed in California, and what 
bids fair to prove the most prolific in the world, with perhaps 
the exception of Baku (Russia), is the Kern River. Here are 
over 4,000 acres of absolutely proven land, capable of developing 
on every acre a well of not less than 100 barrels a day. At the 
present time there are over five hundred wells pumping, which 
produced in 1903 over 15,000,000 barrels of oil. There is no 
reason why this district should not have two thousand wells, with 



42 



CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 



a production of over 40,000,000 barrels per annum. Baku, with 
only 2,400 acres of proven territory, has been producing 50,000,000 
to 75,000,000 barrels a year for ten years. We certainly can not 
be accused of exaggeration when we claim half the production 
from double the acreage. The balance of the oil produced last year 
came from Ventura, Fullerton, Whittier, Santa Maria, McKittrick 
and Coalinga. There are in the State at the present time 2,800 
wells. 

At the beginning of this year there were forty refineries in the 
State. These refineries make kerosene, distillate, lubricants, 
asphaltum, coke, and many other by-products. The great refinery 
at Point Richmond, on the bay of San Francisco, constructed by 
the Standard Oil Company in connection with its pipe-line 278 







«ifa. ; # : - 



..^7: 




OIL WELLS WITHIN CORPORATE LIMITS OF LOS ANGELES. 

miles long from Bakersfield, is one of the largest in the United 
States, with a capacity for handling over 10,000 barrels of oil 
a day. 

It was believed up to a few years ago that California oil with 
an asphaltum base could not be refined for kerosene at a profit, 
but the most of the kerosene we are using on the Pacific Coast today 
is being made not twenty miles from the city of San Francisco. 

One of the most important by-products is asphaltum. 
Asphaltum, This contains 99 per cent bitumen, and is absolutely 

impervious to water; consequently asphalt from oil 
is pure, while that imported is not in our sense a true asphalt at 
fill, but a kind of bituminous rock filled with foreign substances. 



THE OIL INDUSTRY OF CALIFORNIA. 



43 



which are soluble in water, therefore easily destroyed by rains 
washing out these particles of extraneous matter and leaving holes 
in the pavement made with it. 

In 1898 the output of asphalt from California refineries was 
12,000 tons, while last year it had increased to 100,000 tons. Of 
this last figure 90 per cent was exported to the Atlantic States 
and Europe. 

There are seventeen refineries producing asphalt at present, 
but the industry is growing so fast that inside of five years, it is 
believed, twice seventeen will be required to supply the demand. 
The oils of the Kern River and Sunset fields carry from 30 to 40 
per cent asphalt. 

The amount of asphalt required for paving purposes alone, in 




OIL WELLS IN THE OCEAN SUMMERLAND, SANTA BARBARA COUNTY. 

the United States, aggregates over 200,000 tons per annum. There 
are so many uses for this valuable by-product, in building, roofing 
(which strange to say is almost fire-proof), laying the floors of 
cellars, curing the porosity of brick waJls, etc., that a large amount 
of the oil production will be absorbed in this way. It takes about 
twenty -two barrels of crude oil to produce one ton of refined asphalt. 
The substitution of oil for coal in manufacturing plants and 
on railroads has necessarily displaced large quantities of the latter 
fuel. As California has little good coal, we import most of it from 
foreign countries, thereby sending out of the State millions of 
dollars a year; this money is now retained here and goes into the 
channels of trade. 



44 



CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 



The amount of coal imported into San Francisco during the past 
four years was as follows : 

1900. 1,624,126 tons 

1901 1,444,404 " 

1902 1,265,082 " 

1903 1,152,816 " 

Showing a falling off of more than 150,000 tons each year, and a 
difference of nearly 5,000,000 tons between the years 1900 and 
1903 ; and this at a time when business was more active than it 
had been for many years. Assuming that last year we consumed 
20,000,000 barrels of oil, it would have taken 5,000,000 tons of coal 
at $6.50 a ton to have done the work that this oil did ; or if we esti- 
mate in dollars we would have sent out of the State $30,000,000 




OILING ROADS. 



to pay for this coal, but which we retained here toward the up- 
building of the commonwealth. 

There is rapidly developing a large demand for oil in the 
sprinkling of roads. An oiled road is so much smoother, more 
durable, cleaner and less costly, that the rural authorities are fast 
adopting the plan of dressing them with oil ; and even in the city 
of San Francisco the drives in Golden Gate Park, which borders 
the Pacific Ocean, have been oiled for the past three years. It 
takes about 150 barrels of oil to oil a mile of road (the oil has to 
be heated to get the best results), and it costs less than $200 per 
mile. There will probably be at least 1,000,000 barrels used in 
1904 for this purpose. 

Throughout the State we have already over two hundred miles 
of county roads, smooth and free from dust, by the application 
of oil, and it is only a question of a very few years before such a 
thing as a dusty or muddy road will be a curiosity. 



THE OIL INDUSTRY OF CALIFORNIA. 45 

The Southern Pacific and Santa Fe railroads are using oil ex- 
clusively in their locomotives and machine shops, and it is esti- 
mated that when they get their tankage set, these roads will use 
not less than 12,000,000 barrels a year. A locomotive uses about 
twenty-three barrels of oil a day. It is estimated that the Southern 
Pacific Company saves over $5,000,000 per annum by the substitu- 
tion of oil for coal. These roads have also oiled their tracks for 
many hundreds of miles. 

Nearly all the gas companies in California are now using oil 
in the manufacture of that illuminant. As there is in the neigh- 
borhood of 16,000,000 feet of gas used in a day, there will be con- 
sumed over 1,000,000 barrels of oil per annum in this industry. 
California is as independent in the matter of cheap fuel as is 
any of the Atlantic States. Her oil is a better steam maker than 
coal, cheaper and more easily obtained. The oil fields already dis- 
covered could easily produce 200,000,000 barrels per annum (equal 
to 50,000,000 tons of coal), and there are other fields which have 
not yet been touched and may not be for many years; but the oil 
is there, and when the necessity arises the development will be 
made. 

Mr. Paul Prutzman, one of the best informed experts 
Cost of in California, writing to "London Petroleum Re- 
Wells, view," says: "Data are not at hand from which to 
state definitely the cost of completing a well, except 
in the Kern River field; in fact, at no other point are conditions 
uniform enough to allow one figure to apply to all parts of a field. 
In this district the average depth is about 1,000 feet, and wells 
can be contracted, including casing, at about $3,000 per well when 
several are to be drilled at once. Pumping rig and steam plant 
will, under the same conditions, add about $1,000 per well, and 
general improvements another $1,000, bringing cost of completed 
well about $5,000. In the Sunset district the average depth is 
somewhat less, but cost of well would be about the same as at Kern ; 
in the Midway there is much more range of depth, and cost would 
run from $5,000 to $10,000; at McKittrick about the same; and 
at Coalinga, from $4,000 to $8,000." 

The cost of oil lands varies; the most expensive is in the Kern 
River district, where the little proven land there is for sale is held 
at about $5,000 an acre. In almost any of the other districts good 
land can be obtained for about $1,000 an acre. Of course, this 
last price is determined largely by the value of improvements sur- 
rounding the property. There is always plenty of land to lease 
on royalty, and the ordinary royalty paid is from 12 to 20 per cent. 
The life of an oil district depends upon the number 
Life of Oil of proven acres and the depth of the oil land. Ex- 
Wells in perts contend that about 20 per cent of the sand is 
Califopnia. oil, and that about 80 per cent of the oil contained 
in the sand can be recovered; consequently, in a dis- 
trict where the sand is 300 feet thick, there should be a little less 
than half a million barrels to the acre, or a patch of 20 acres. 



46 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

roughly speaking, should give 8,000,000 barrels. There are many 
wells in the Kern River district which have been pumping con- 
tinuously at the rate of over 200 barrels per day for the past two 
and a half years, and which show absolutely no diminution as yet. 



AGRICULTURE IN CALIFORNIA. 



By ARTHUR R. BRIGGS, 

General Manager of the California State Board of Trade. 



Under varied conditions, farming in California has more features 
of interest and presents greater opportunities than in any other 
State. The wide range of products and the peculiarities of soil, 
climate and weather afford abundant scope for the energies and 
experiments of the wideawake tiller of the soil. Despite the im- 
pression that prevails in states east of the Rocky mountains, the 
rules under which farming is profitable elsewhere are applicable 
here. The stock-raiser in any other part of the United States would 
not be at a loss to understand the features of difference in stock-rais- 
ing in California from those which obtain in the older states, and 
to adapt himself to them. The successful and intelligent farmer 
in any other state would be equally successful here, and his experi- 
ence wherever gained would be as useful. If the business in- 
volves less expenditure and less care on account of more favorable 
conditions, this would not necessitate the unlearning of anything, 
nor operate against the introduction of methods that have been suc- 
cessfully employed in other states. This statement applies to all 
branches of agriculture, for the reason that farming, like any other 
occupation, involves a fundamental knowledge, fortified with prac- 
tical experience, and the intelligence to understand the importance 
of adapting that knowledge and experience to different conditions. 

When it is understood that California, the second state in size in 
the Union, has a total land area of 155,980 square miles, or 99,827,- 
200 acres, of which 28.9 per cent, or 28,828,931 acres, were included 
in farms when the census of 1900 was taken, some general idea of 
its magnitude as a, farming area is received. But no part of Cali- 
fornia has yet been developed to its capacity, either as to products 
or in the selection of such as are ultimately to be of the greatest 
profit. Intensive farming has been exemplified in several counties, 
but not one of them has its whole cultivable area in crops. An- 
other consideration in estimating the agricultural possibilities of 
California is that the soil and climate are favorable for the growth 
of all the products— that is, valuable and high-priced crops— which 
made the region around the Mediterranean unique and gave it an 
exclusive trade, until California intervened; also, that here in the 



AGRICULTURE IN CALIFORNIA. 



47 



same localities and in adjoining tracts, the raisin, the fig, corn and 
other cereals, and all the vegetation and fruitage common to the 
strictly temperate zone, thrive to perfection. 

That the extensive grain fields of former years have been or are 
being converted into farms of less acreage devoted to a new cultiva- 
tion, and that the combined harvester, which cuts, threshes and 
sacks the grain ready for market, with its thirty-two mules as a pro- 
pelling power, is gradually being supplanted with the machinery 
suited to smaller holdings, are evidences of a new and more modern 
civilization which is in the line of industrial progress. But this does 
not remove California from the list of large cereal productions. 
The grain product of the State, though small as compared with some 




COMBINED HARVESTER AT WORK. 

former years, for the season 1902-03 aggregated 537,909,500 pounds 
or 8,965,158 bushels of wheat, 875,000,000 pounds or 182,291,666 
bushels of barley, 12,085,200 pounds of rye and 117,500,000 pounds 
of beans. 

Agriculture in California, it should be understood, has passed 
through several phases. Immediately after the subsidence of the 
characteristic era of placer mining, the cultivation of cereals began 
on a very large scale. Fruit was considered to be only of advantage 
for home needs. When it was discovered that green deciduous 
fruits could be successfully marketed as far eastward as the Atlantic 
Coast, and ultimately in Europe, and that the distribution of 
canned and dried fruits might be effected on a larger commercial 
scale, other branches of farming began to attract attention. In- 



48 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

telligent experiments led to the discovery of many fruit varieties 
that could be successfully grown and marketed. 

The limit of products that may be grown in California is co-ex- 
tensive with the range of products in all semi-tropical and strictly 
temperate lands. Means have been discovered to pollinate the fig, 
so that in California the Smyrna fig is successfully produced, and 
promises eventually to supply the world. That this is no idle dream 
is shown in the fact that already California raisin-producers, after 
but few years' experience, practically have the whole United States 
as a customer. The prunes of California have driven French prunes 
largely from the American market, and are pressing the foreign 
market for a leading position. California dried and canned fruits 
have secured the trade of the United States and have for several 
years been extensively exported to Europe and to other parts of the 
world. 

No agricultural experiment that has ever been tried in California 
has been a failure from the viewpoint of production. It is accepted 
as a fact that "everything will grow in California." Its great 
variety of elevation and of climate provide all the conditions essen- 
tial for plant growth. The most forbidding deserts blossom like 
the rose at the magic touch of water. Plenty waits only industry, 
intelligently applied, to give large rewards in all parts of the State, 
with the exception of the higher altitudes in the mountains. The 
foothills and the valleys, the interior and the coast counties alike, 
are prolific in agricultural products. In the northern and central 
counties of the State crops have been annually produced at commer- 
cial profit without artificial irrigation ; but it has been demonstrated 
that artificial irrigation not only enhances the yield greatly, but is 
an assurance of success. Wherever there are well-established irri- 
gation systems, fruit crops are certain and large. The southern 
counties of California have from the beginning been compelled to 
rely upon artificial irrigation, the rainfall south of the Tehachapi 
Pass being much less than in the counties farther north. The north- 
ern and central counties have also of late years created large and 
successful irrigation systems. 

Governor George C. Pardee has recently pointed out what must 
arise in increased fruitfulness from the great irrigating canals and 
their laterals. In an address on irrigation he said : "Here in Cali- 
fornia we have seen the benefits of irrigation. Thirty-five years ago 
the district where Pasadena, Redlands and Riverside now are was a 
desert on whose lean and dreary acres a few head of cattle were 
able to get a precarious living. It was a land of cactus, rattlesnakes, 
jackrabbits and coyotes. Out of what was then desert there go, this 
year (1903), alone 30,000 cars of oranges; several great cities now 
people its former solitudes, and Southern California has become a 
land of wealth and luxury. What brought it all about? Why, 
nothing but the wedding together of irrigation water and the desert. 
Without the irrigating ditch Los Angeles could be nothing but the 
village it was before, and Pasadena, Redlands and Riverside could 
have no existence. There would be no oranges there, and the mil- 



AGRICULTURE IN CALIFORNIA. 



49 



lions of dollars that this industry alone brings into them would not 
be theirs. A quarter of a century ago, Fresno county, that produces 
by far the greater part of the raisins the United States now uses, 
was practically a desert, worth, for sheep pasture, in the spring- 
time, two or three dollars an acre, although the average rainfall 
there is about nine inches per annum. Since the water of Kings 
river has been put upon it, in that district where formerly the 
sheepherder was lord of all he surveyed there are now 65,000 acres 
of irrigated land. The great valleys of the San Joaquin and Sacra- 
mento, from Bakersfield to Redding, with the great rivers travers- 
ing them from end to end, now, with here and there a small and 
notable exception, raise but a tithe of what should there be raised. 




AFTEE THE THKESHING. 



The towns are small and few and far between, and one rides sonje- 
times for miles without seeing even a farmhouse. Yet the 20,000,- 
000 acres of land lying in and immediately tributary to those great 
valleys is at least as fertile as that at Riverside and Fresno. And 
were its owners to put their dependence no longer in the rains that 
fall from heaven, but would turn upon their acres the water that 
now runs swiftly by them to the ocean, villages, towns, cities would 
spring up like magic, and, where now but tens of thousands live, 
millions would have their habitation." 

Some idea of the fruit industry' of the State may be had from the 
statistics of shipments for the year 1903. These are compiled by the 
California State Board of Trade, and are as follows : 104,198 tons 
of green deciduous fruits. 299,623 tons of citrus fruits, 149,531 



50 



CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 



tons of dried fruits, 39,963 tons of raisins, 9,377 tons of nuts, 
69,689 carloads of fruits by rail and sea, 8,661 carloads of vegetables 
by rail and sea, 9,733 carloads of wine and brandy by rail and sea, 
88,084 carloads of fruit, vegetables, wine and brandy by rail and sea. 

There was a net gain in 1903 of 10,546 carloads as compared with 
the shipments for 1902, of which 7,395 carloads were citrus fruits. 
Vegetables made a gain of 1,705 carloads; wine and brandy a gain 
of 865 carloads ; canned fruits a gain of 1,356 carloads, and green 
deciduous fruits a gain of 380 carloads. The raisin output in 1903 
was greater than that of any preceding year. 

The shipment of oranges from Northern and Central California 
was 2,246 carloads; being an increase of 598 carloads as compared 




ON THE WAY TO MARKET. 

with 1902. Most of California's oranges are grown in the southern 
part of the State; practically all the fresh deciduous fruit was 
shipped from Northern and Central California. The raisin center 
is in Fresno county and vicinity ; the prune center is in Santa Clara 
county and vicinity; of the dried fruit over 85 per cent goes from 
the northern and central portions of the State, and these sections 
give an exceedingly large percentage of the canned fruits; the 
walnuts are principally grown in the south, while the almonds are 
mostly from the north; the fresh peaches, pears, cherries, plums, 
apricots, etc., nearly all go from north of the Tehachapi moun- 
tains, which divide Southern California from Central and Northern 
California. The annual production of wine is now about 30,000,000 
gallons. 



AGRICULTURE IN CALIFORNIA. 



51 



The beet sugar production during the year 1903 amounted to 
65,360 tons. This industry is capable of large increase and is 
attracting considerable attention. Experience and scientific ex- 
periments, as well as climatic conditions, attest the superior merits 
of California for sugarbeet-growing. 

The opportunities for development of tobacco-growing are recog- 
nized. The peculiar quality of soils in California renders fertiliz- 
ing unnecessary for the tobacco plant, which is a material saving as 
compared with other states. The absence of frost during the grow- 
ing season is a feature of importance in the cultivation of tobacco. 
Parties most familiar with tobacco-growing contend that it will 
ultimately be largely engaged in and be profitable here. 




GRAIN BARGES ON THE SACRAMENTO RIVER. 



Livestock-raising is very largely and successfully engaged in. 
The foothill and mountain districts, at one time erroneously con- 
sidered among waste lands, furnish rich pasturage— the higher 
mountain elevations in summer, and the foothills in winter — 
thus giving favorable conditions the year around. Animals in this 
State mature and reach their growth at an early age. A two-year- 
old animal attains about the size of a three-year-old in other states. 
A large area of alfalfa during the last few years has added greatly 
to the livestock interests. 

Stock-growers are now supplied with the finest breeds of cattle 
for all uses and extensive herds are found in all parts of the State., 

The breeding of horses and mules has been a prominent factor in 



52 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

agricultural development. California thoroughbred horses have 
stood in the front rank for many years. 

In the earlier development of California the sheep industry 
became a prime factor. As late as 1876 sheep numbered nearly 
7,000,000 and the annual production of wool reached over 56,500,000 
pounds, bringing over $10,000,000 to the State. Other agricultural 
pursuits became more profitable, besides the demands of increased 
population displaced sheep husbandry, and after 1876 sheep-raising 
declined in importance. It is, however, still a large industry, both 
for mutton and for wool, and will continue to be, as the ranges un- 
suitable for cultivation in the foothills and mountains are well 
suited to this industry. The present product of wool for the State 
aggregates about 22,000,000 pounds. 

Hogs are extensively raised, but not in sufficient numbers to sup- 
ply home needs. With the increased acreage in alfalfa and the 
extension of the dairy interests this branch of farming is on the 
increase. Indian corn, the great product of the Middle West for 
fattening hogs, is lacking in the State, and its substitute is barley, 
which is found to be equally well suited to that purpose. This 
branch of farming is capable of large increase. On account of the 
quick returns and the sure profit it affords, hog-raising is attracting 
much attention. 

Despite the fact that every possible condition favorable to the 
poultry business exists, large quantities of eggs and poultry are 
imported annually. It may surprise the farmers in the East and 
West when the fact is known that some farmers in California send 
to the town store for butter, eggs and chickens. Eggs and chickens 
are generally the by-products of the Western farm, but they go 
a long way toward the support of the family. The California 
farmer has yet to learn the value of the farm by-product. 

As to the profits of poultry as a distinctive and separate business, 
statistics are not obtainable, but there are successful poultry farms 
in this State. There can be no doubt of the wisdom of every farmer 
raising poultry for his own wants and some for market. 

The production of honey is worthy of consideration. In the 
central and southern portions of the State, and to some extent in 
Northern California, the business is made a separate occupation ; 
the output is large and finds market in the East and West. As a 
by-product of the orchard and farm, bee culture has value. In 
orchards it has been found that bees aid in the pollenization of the 
fruit-tree blossom. 

It will therefore be seen that agriculture in California covers a 
wide scope and affords opportunity for important development. 
The last quarter of a century has given demonstration sufficient to 
justify expectation far beyond any present development. The 
application of scientific methods is bringing into this department of 
industry intelligence and capital from various parts of the world 
that promises great results. This, coupled with peculiar climatic 
conditions, gives to farm life and the country home features of 
attraction hitherto unknown. Through quick and frequent com- 



HORTICULTURE IN CALIFORNIA. 53 

munication with towns and cities by the introduction of electric car 
service, which the development of electric power makes possible, the 
element of ease and comfort is brought into intimate relation with 
rural life and the rural home. 

For free information in respect to California, address "California State 
Board of Trade," Ferry Building, San Francisco, Cal. 



HORTICULTURE IN CALIFORNIA. 



By E. J. WICKSON, 

Professor of Agricultural Practice, University of California, and Horticulturist 
of the California Experiment Station ; author of "California Fruits and 
How to Grow Them," and "California Vegetables in Garden and Field" ; 
Horticultural Editor of the "Pacific Rural Press" of San Francisco. 

Certain facts which are of great interest and importance in con- 
nection with fruit-growing in California are these : 

i'^irsi— Fruit-growing and the manufacture of fruit products 
constitute the leading industry of California. The output, from 
its beginning on a large commercial scale about 1880, has shown an 
average increase in value of about $1,500,000 per year, and has now 
reached a total annual value of more than $35,000,000. This con- 
stitutes California the greatest fruit-growing state of the Union. 

Second — The reasons for this eminence of California in fruit- 
growing are several: 

(a) The possession of climate which insures the life and thrift 
of the tree or vine. This can be appreciated when it is understood 
that, except at elevations greater than those chosen for fruit plant- 
ing, there is no cold severe enough to freeze the ground and no 
winter-killing of trees. 

(6) The length of the growing season, the absence of summer 
rains, the brilliance of the sunshine, and the adequacy of sun heat 
promote size, beauty and quality of fruit and favor the manufacture 
of evaporated fruits at a minimum cost. 

(c) The combination of conditions, which befit the growth of both 
semi-tropical and temperate zone fruits, gives California command 
of a variety of fruits which no other state possesses in such fullness 
and perfection. This will appear more clearly as the different 
fruits are separately discussed later in this paper. 

(d) The occurrence in California of vast areas of deep, loamy 
soils, rich in plant food, easy to cultivate and encouraging root 
growth to a depth of ten feet quite generally and occasionally twice 
and even thrice that depth as shown by actual digging. Though 
this is true, it is also true that shallower soils are successfully em- 
ployed in growing fruit. 

Third — Aside from natural conditions of climate and soil, fruit- 
growing has reached its present eminence in California through the 
high intelligence, energy and business ability which are found in the 



54 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

agricultural population of the State. These qualities of citizenship 
have made it possible to develop methods of growing, preserving and 
distant marketing of fruits which are new and characteristic of Cali- 
fornia. The employment of these methods, coupled with the accept- 
able nature of horticultural work and the opportunity to pursue it 
nearly the whole year, renders it possible for a horticultural worker 
to accomplish with ease and comfort twice the work which can be 
compassed in climates which add the embargo of winter to the de- 
pression of hot, moist summer weather. 

Fourth — But after all, and probably, the underlying secret of 
success in California fruit-growing is the conception of the tree or 
vine as a producing machine which must be developed and main- 
tained in the highest degree of efficiency. This idea of a tree widely 
prevails, and in commercial plantings is sharply and diligently 
pursued. The tree must have the best shape to bear a fair amount 
of large, well-developed fruit. It must be a low tree in order that 
all work upon it can be most cheaply done. It must grow every 
year a sufficient amount of strong, new wood, and to do this it must 
be pruned to prevent over-growth and over-bearing. On the other 
hand, satisfactory growth and fruit-bearing must also be promoted 
by constant cultivation of the soil and by irrigation and fertiliza- 
tion, when necessary. It must be protected in its strength by the 
absolute destruction of injurious insects, blights and diseases. All 
this signifies that the tree must be maintained in full possession of its 
producing powers, and the California grower expects to stand beside 
his trees, constantly training and pushing them to their work and 
generously assisting them to all that they need to do it well. It is 
this conception of the grower's relation to his trees and the dis- 
charge of the duties which such relation requires which have 
brought to California fruit-growing such notable success and wide 
repute. 

Fifth— California fruit-growing has reached its present eminence 
because of the wide application of business principles in production 
and in trade. Many of the leading fruit-growers were formerly 
prominent and successful in manufacturing and commercial affairs 
at the East and abroad. They brought to California the wisdom 
born of experience. They invented new processes and appliances 
and they applied the most advanced commercial methods. They 
matched the favoring natural conditions of soil' and climate with 
their own skill and energy in using them to the best advantage. 
They have demonstrated the advantage of co-operative organiza- 
tions for handling fruits in the packing-house and in the markets so 
clearly that California methods are commanding attention in all 
parts of the world. 

VARIOUS FRUITS COMMERCIALLY GROWN IN CALIFORNIA. 

It may be most interesting and convenient to those seeking infor- 
mation about California fruit-growing to state a few of the leading 
facts about each of the fruits, under its own name, and for ease of 
reference, an alphabetical arrangement will be followed in each of 
the groups into which the fruits naturally divide themselves. 



56 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

DECIDUOUS ORCHARD FRUITS. 

California has about 3,500,000 apple trees in orchard, 
Apple. of which one fifth are not yet in bearing. The success 

attained in growing a winter apple very satisfactory 
to the trade and capable of distant shipment constitutes this fruit 
one of the most promising and popular at the present time. About 
one thousand carloads are shipped beyond state lines and a consider- 
able quantity reaches the London market, selling at the highest 
prices. There are two distinct branches to the apple industry of 
California : one is the growing of early varieties like the Astrachan 
and Gravenstein for sale in the northern parts of the Pacific Coast 
and in the interior mountain states before the earliest apples can be 
ripened in those parts. The localities where these early varieties 
are chiefly grown for such shipment are in the Sacramento valley 
and the foothills surrounding it. The forcing heat of the spring 
and early summer brings these varieties quickly to notable size, 
crispness and flavor. This heat, however, continued into the sum- 
mer and autumn, makes the same districts quite ill-suited for the 
growth of winter apples, which are prematurely ripened and lack 
quality and keeping power. 

The second branch of the California apple industry, then, the 
production of winter apples, is undertaken in parts of the State 
quite different in climate from that of the early apple regions. The 
requirements of a winter apple are fully met by two main divisions 
of the State, viz. : the smaller valleys close to the coast, in fact, in 
some cases, the coast flats, where the exposure is directly toward the 
cooling breezes of the ocean which produce a cool summer— a long, 
slow-growing season, which develops the greatest beauty and high- 
est quality in a winter apple. Similar results are also produced by 
the climate found at an elevation of from 2,500 to 5,000 feet on the 
interior plateaus and in the mountain valleys. The coast district 
has developed a greater commercial apple industry than the moun- 
tains, because transportation facilities for shipment are vastly 
better; but as the State advances the mountain districts will be em- 
ployed in this production much more largely than at present. The 
greatest apple district of the State is the Pajaro valley, including 
parts of Monterey and Santa Cruz counties, centering at Watson- 
ville, which shipped about one thousand carloads of apples in 1903. 
The counties next prominent in apple-growing are Sonoma, Mendo- 
cino and San Luis Obispo, while many other counties have good 
apple orchards in less total acreage ; in fact, from San Diego on the 
south to Siskiyou on the north, localities exist which afford the ele- 
vation or the coast exposures which favor the production of good 
winter apples, and planting is progressing in all these districts. 

California has about 3,000,000 apricot trees, which 
Appieot. stand in the open air without protection of any kind 

and bear large, luscious fruit. That apricot trees can 
do this constitutes one of the unique features of California fruit- 
growing and proclaims it different from fruit-growing in other 
states, for, excepting a few localities in other parts of the Pacific 




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58 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

Slope, California has a monopoly of apricot-growing. And yet the 
apricot does not find all parts of California suited to it. The whole 
northwest quarter of the State, north of San Francisco bay and west 
of the high ridges of the Coast Range, does not grow apricots com- 
mercially, nor does this fruit anywhere ascend above an elevation of 
1,500 feet upon the foothills. It is particularly a fruit of the pro- 
tected coast valleys south and east of the bay of San Francisco to 
the southern end of the State ; also of the great interior valleys and 
lower foothills, avoiding, however, the low places in these valleys 
where spring frosts may injure the crop though the tree is not 
harmed. For these reasons it is wise to choose locations for the 
apricot with some discrimination, but such large areas of land are 
practically safe that the present great product can be several times 
multiplied if the world's markets should favor it. The California 
apricot is of superior size and quality, and in canned and dried 
forms is finding a free field in the countries of northern Europe for 
any surplus which is not required in the United States. 

A point of advantage with the apricot, as with the pear and peach 
and to a less extent with the nectarine and plum, is that it has three 
great lines of demand: first, as fresh fruit, of which 231 carloads 
were shipped to Eastern markets last year ; second, as canned fruit, 
with a product of 648,716 cases, each containing two dozen 2i^- 
pound cans; third, 20,000,000 pounds of dried apricots. Nearly 
3,000,000 apricot trees are growing in California; counties having 
over 100,000 trees each are as follows: Santa Clara, Solano, Ven- 
tura, Los Angeles and Alameda, while several other counties closely 
approach that limit. Some of these counties are five hundred miles 
apart and their success with the apricot shows how widely suitable 
locations are distributed over the State. 

The cherry is one of the lesser orchard fruits of Cali- 

Cherry. fornia, because the regions which favor it are fewer 
and because its commercial field is less ; but in the size 
and quality of the fruit and the prolific bearing of the tree the 
cherry is a great fruit in locations which meet its requirements. 
The cherry requires a modification of summer heat and of the dry- 
ness of the summer air, and for these reasons it does not thrive on 
the interior plains, even when irrigation is employed to regulate 
soil moisture. In the coast valleys, however, in the upper part of 
the State, in the smaller valleys tributary to the great Sacramento 
valley and on the river lands, where depth of soil prevails and modi- 
fication of air-dryness is secured by abundance of adjacent water, 
the cherry behaves magnificently. Elevation also secures conditions 
suitable to the cherry in some cases, notably in Southern California, 
where the product of trees in mountain valleys at an elevation of 
2,000 feet or more is satisfactory and profitable, though the trees on 
mesas below, where citrus fruits thrive, are disappointing. There 
are about 750,000 cherry trees in California, of which Santa Clara, 
Alameda, Yuba and Solano have the largest plantings. Cherry- 
drying has never largely prevailed in California. The shipment 
of fresh fruit to the East has overcome its chief difficulties and is 



HORTICULTURE IN CALIFORNIA. 



59 



now rapidly increasing— the shipment of 1903 aggregating over 200 
carloads. Cherries are constantly growing in volume as canned 
fruit, the product of 1903 being about 200,000 cases. The acreage 
at the present time is extending on the basis of the improving ship- 
ping and canning demand. 

The peach is the greatest orchard fruit of California 
Peaches, of the deciduous class. A few years ago it was sur- 
passed in acreage by the prune, but the prune was 
over-planted in situations not befitting it, and such unwise exten- 
sions have largely disappeared. This restores the peach to the 
supremacy which it held previous to that unfortunate incident, as 
it has had no reverses, but has rather gained continually in popu- 




DRYING FRUIT. 



larity. The peach has a very wide range in California. It goes be- 
yond the apricot in the coast valleys north of San Francisco ; it goes 
beside the apricot wherever the latter thrives in the interior; rises 
a thousand feet above it on the foothills, and goes lower on the plains 
into the frosted areas with less danger. The peach is a grand fruit 
almost everywhere ; it has a ripening season with different varieties 
and different locations from May to December, though, of course, 
the midseason varieties constitute the great commercial crop. The 
varieties most largely grown are of California origin, being chiefly 
selected chance seedlings taken up by enterprising nurserymen on 
the approval of the growers with whom they originated. These 
varieties have gained fame by embodying qualities acceptable to 
three main lines of disposition indicated by these notes of the prod- 



60 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

uct, viz. : Shipment of fresh peaches overland in 1903, 1,867 car- 
loads (the greatest volume of any deciduous fruit) ; canned peaches, 
676,000 cases (the largest canned product of any single fruit) ; 
dried peaches (1902), 50,420,000 pounds (larger than any other tree 
fruit except the prune). This product, as indicated above, is de- 
rived from nearly all parts of the State, though mainly from the 
great interior valleys (the San Joaquin and the Sacramento) and 
the foothills. Four counties, Placer, Fresno, Tehama and Santa 
Clara, have over 500,000 trees each, while Kings, Solano, Sonoma 
and Tulare have over 200,000 trees each. About ten other counties 
go above the 100,000 mark. The California peach, though it is now 
eminent, has even a greater future before it. 

The nectarine is a smooth-skinned peach, but it bears 
Nectarines, no comparison with the peach in product or popular- 
ity. The canned product of nectarines is but 344 
cases, and the dried product but 600,000 pounds. California pro- 
duces a magnificent nectarine, but the demand for the fruit does not 
justify the effort. 

Because of conditions favoring the groAvth of pears of 
Pears. the most popular market sorts in greater beauty and 
volume than they can be produced in older states and 
countries, the California pear has commanded wide attention 
in distant parts of the United States and, like the apple, has com- 
manded the highest prices for the fresh fruit in the London market ; 
in fact, the pear stands next and very close to the peach in this 
trade, 1,719 carloads being shipped out of the State in 1903. The 
pear also is high in canning, the product being 423,831 cases; in 
drying, the same is true, as the normal annual output is about 
6,000,000 pounds. The pear resembles the peach in its wide range 
over coast valley, interior valley and foothill situations, but it ex- 
tends beyond the peach, for it goes to an altitude of 5,000 feet on the 
mountains and it descends to the lowest places in the valleys, for 
neither frost nor standing water can avail against it. It escapes 
frost by its slow start in the spring, and it endures water and even a 
degree of alkali in the soil by the hardy character of its root. In 
ripening, also, it is not injured by a degree and duration of heat 
which ruin the quality of a winter apple. Until very recently the 
pear was free from the "fire blight" in California, and there seemed 
no limit to the possibilities in pear-growing. At present blight shows 
itself, but is restricted in area and may be circumscribed. The 
pear census shows the existence of about 1,800,000 pear trees. The 
leading pear counties are Solano, Santa Clara, Placer, Fresno, 
Sonoma, Sacramento, El Dorado, Contra Costa, Yolo,Yuba, etc., but 
almost every county in the State grows the fruit in commercial 
quantities. The varieties grown are comparatively few and the 
Bartlett is chief, because there are fully two months between the 
first to mature in early districts and the last in late districts, and 
during all this time supplies are ample for shipping, canning and 
drying of this one exceedingly acceptable variety which permits no 
intruders while it is in season. The growing of later pears is 



HORTICULTURE IN CALIFORNIA. 



61 



limited, because the Eastern-grown winter pears are usually avail- 
able in large quantities in the Eastern markets after the California 
Bartlett has had its run. Still, a few shippers are making excellent 
records with winter pears in distant markets. 

By demonstrating the suitability of the climate for the 
Plums and free-fruiting of the choicest varieties of the European 
Prunes, plum, California growers freed themselves from the 

burden of building up on the basis of the wild Ameri- 
can species which Eastern growers have done with so much credit to 
themselves. California has no need to seek hardy plums, for the 
tenderest are perfectly satisfactory ; nor does California have to cir- 
cumvent the curculio and the black knot, for these have never ap- 




CURING PRUNES. 



peared in the State. The French prunes were introduced at an 
early day and the product was so successful and profitable and won 
its way by displacing European prunes in American markets that 
there arose ere long almost a rage for prune-planting, the product 
of which, rising to nearly 200,000,000 pounds of dried prunes in 
1902, has outgrown the requirements of the United States and is 
being pushed for sale in Europe, even in France itself. Probably 
even greater success than could have been anticipated in disposing 
of this immense volume of prunes has been attained, and yet as free 
and profitable an outlet as is necessary has not been secured. The 
prune has been depressed, acreage has been somewhat reduced (as 
stated in the foregoing discussion of the peach), and at present 
there is a general sentiment against prune-planting, except where an 



62 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

exceptionally large fruit can be counted upon. Strenuous efforts 
are being made to popularize the prune as a desirable food, to push 
the product into markets in all parts of the world, and to realize fair 
returns for such an excellent fruit as the California prune is con- 
ceded to be. Good results may be expected from such efforts, but 
it is probably wise to be conservative about extending the acreage 
until some assurance is had. California has invented new processes 
of curing prunes by machinery and other labor-saving appliances, 
and has endeavored by human devices to match the economy of 
production to which nature contributes free sunshine and dry air. 
Probably nowhere in the world can so rich and delicious a fruit food 
as the California prune be so cheaply produced, and it is reasonable 
to expect that the world will need all that can be produced when 
organization for distribution and trade is made effective. The 
largest prune-producing counties are Santa Clara (which has nearly 
one-half of all the prune trees in the State), Sonoma, Alameda, 
Solano, Tulare, Santa Cruz, Kings, etc.— both the coast valleys and 
the great interior valleys participating in the production. 

Of plums, aside from varieties which are dried without removal 
of the pit (and therefore called prunes) , the production is relatively 
small and largely restricted to the Japanese and a few other varie- 
ties which are particularly adapted to fresh-fruit shipments and 
canning. These fruits are largely grown in the districts where 
early ripening can be counted upon. The size and beauty of the 
shipping and canning plums of California are striking, and the 
product reaches a good volume, viz. : plum shipments, fresh, in 
1903, 1,145 carloads; canned plums, 125,567 cases; dried plums 
(other than prunes) , 2,200,000 pounds. 

NUTS. 

California produces practically the whole of the al- 
Almond. mond crop of the United States and thus stands as the 
only source of a home-grown almond supply for Ameri- 
can markets. The California interest is large, comprising 1,425,074 
trees, and the product in favorable years reaches about three hun- 
dred carloads. There is, however, considerable irregularity in the 
annual crop, because some districts are liable to frost injury. The 
almond is a very restless tree during the California winter, for the 
temperature in the valleys is always near the point which induces 
blooming and rather a light frost may injure blossoms and young 
nuts. For this reason it is very important to select locations for 
almonds where there is a minimum danger of frost. These are 
found on the bench lands around small valleys, while the bottom 
lands in the same valleys might be quite frosty and should be 
planted with later blooming fruits. Frosts are also less frequent 
on the plains of the interior valleys where there is a free circulation 
of air which tends to equalize temperatures, while on the river 
bottom lands the trees may be unproductive though growing 
thriftily. The almond does not thrive at elevations in the foothills 
and seems to be a bench and valley fruit, but even within these 



HORTICULTURE IN CALIFORNIA. 



63 



limits locations must be chosen with close attention to local topog- 
raphy. The chief product is grown in Yolo, Contra Costa, Solano, 
San Joaquin and Tehama counties, which are all in the central and 
northern regions of the State, although many other counties con- 
tribute in a smaller way. 

The California chestnut product is small and consists 
Chestnut. almost entirely of the Italian variety grown in the in- 
terior valleys and foothills. The production of the best 
chestnuts of American and European varieties can be largely and 







HARVESTING ALMONDS. 

probably profitably increased, but no particular attention has been 
paid to the matter, except by a few enterprising growers. 

On light loams all through the lower lands of Califor- 
Peanut. nia, the peanut thrives well and makes a large product 

of exceptionally large, bright and well-filled nuts. In 
Southern California the chief product is on the lower lands of the 
coast region, while in Central and Northern California peanuts are 
mostly grown on the alluvial loams of the river bottoms of the 
Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys, although the crop is some- 
times raised between fruit trees on the light upland loams. The 
product is quite profitable to those who master the details. Though 
it might be a question as to whether California should enter into 
competition in the general markets of the country, there seems no 
good reason why the crop should not be brought up to the demand 
for local consumption. At present only about one-fifth of the pea- 
nuts used in California are grown here. 



64 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

The pecan grows well and bears well in the lower lands 
Pecan. of the interior valleys. It does not behave well near 

the coast where the seasons are not well defined, noi- 
does it thrive in the drier regions of the interior. On deep lands, 
however, where moisture is ample and where the approach of 
autumn is marked by rather sharp frosts, the pecan stops its growth 
and matures its nuts satisfactorily. The product has not yet risen 
to commercial importance. 

The English walnut is the greatest nut grown in Cali- 
Walnut. fornia, judged by the volume and value of the product, 

by the breadth of its adaptability to California condi- 
tions, and by the greatness of its outlook. The present commercial 
product is about one thousand carloads in a good season, and there 
are upwards of 500,000 trees in orchard— about one-third of the 
nimiber not yet in bearing. The present product is almost entirely 
grown in three counties in Southern California: Orange, Los 
Angeles and Ventura, and the adjoining counties of Santa Barbara 
and San Luis Obispo stand next in acreage of walnuts. During the 
last few years, however, owing to the profitableness of the walnut, 
there has been a large planting in the central part of the State, and 
the product of the future will be drawn from a wider territory than 
hitherto. The walnut tree is, in fact, content with the coast, in- 
terior valley and foothill climates, providing it has sufficient depth 
of soil to sustain it and to furnish the constant, but not excessive, 
water supply which it needs. Where the rainfall is large and the 
soil deep enough to retain moisture and yet open enough to prevent 
standing water, walnuts yield satisfactory results without irrigation. 
In places with light rainfall or where the soil is too shallow or 
non-retentive to hold moisture for the long growing season, irriga- 
tion is requisite. There is, however, need to select varieties with 
some regard to localities. In Southern California a local seedling, 
known as the Santa Barbara soft-shell, is chiefly grown. This 
variety is not so well adapted to conditions in the upper part of the 
State. The French imported varieties and some California seed- 
lings locally originated are better and are now being largely planted. 
These varieties are hardy against spring frosts because of their 
later blooming, and they resist the sun heat of the interior. The 
Southern California variety is injured by these agencies, but as they 
are reduced to a minimum in the Southern California coast regions, 
the resistance of a variety is not of as much concern. 

THE GRAPE AND ITS PRODUCT. 

The grape grows in all parts of California from near sea level on 
the coast to an elevation of five thousand feet or more on the moun- 
tains. It is contented, too, with nearly all fertile soils, from the 
deep valley loams where the great, fat, firm-fleshed grapes are grown 
for raisin and table purposes, to the shallower soils of the high foot- 
hill and mountain slopes, where the grapes are less in quantity, but 
of superior aromatic quality. This wide adaptation gives an im- 
mense area suitable for grape culture, but the chief reason for the 



HORTICULTURE IN CALIFORNIA. 



65 




LAEGEST GRAPEVINE IN THE WORLD — CARPENTERIA, SANTA BARBARA COUNTY. 

62 jears old ; trunk 8 ft. 3 in. in circumference ; branches cover one-half acre ; 
bears 10 tons of grapes a year ; will shelter 800 persons. 

achievement and the promise of the grape in California is in the fact 
that the European species, Vitis vinifera, thrives, and thus the Cali- 
fornia grower has command of all that Europeans have accom- 

5 



66 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

plished in centuries by developing special varieties of the species for 
special purposes. The grapes of the states east of the Rocky moun- 
tains are not grown in California because the European varieties are 
the only ones from which raisins can be made ; they also furnish the 
world's wine and brandy and they give size, beauty and shipping 
quality beyond all comparison with American varieties. Wherever 
wealthy Eastern connoisseurs choose grapes for their glass houses 
they select European varieties; the Calif ornian grows his "hothouse 
grapes" in the open air. He also grows them without the cost of 
trellising, because most of the European varieties will bear well in 
short-pruned bush form. 

California has a large acreage of grapevines, and planting has 
been very active during the last few years because good prices have 
prevailed. The number of acres of table grapes is about 22,000 ; of 
raisin grapes, 90,000; of wine grapes, 100,000. Table grapes are 
grown for local use everywhere and for shipping, chiefly in Sacra- 
mento, San Joaquin, Placer, Fresno, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz 
counties, although other counties participate in this branch, which 
sent out of the State nearly 2,000 carloads in 1903. 

The raisin interest is chiefly concentrated in the center of the 
San Joaquin valley in Fresno and Kings counties, though there is 
a raisin product of some moment in the Sacramento valley and in 
Southern California. The total product of raisins is upward of 
100,000,000 pounds. 

The wine and brandy interests are widely distributed through the 
length and breadth of the State. The product of the year ending 
June 30, 1903, is placed at 32,000,000 gallons of wine and 5,700,343 
gallons of brandy — the latter being exactly known, as it is under 
the supervision of the United States revenue officials. 

SEMI-TROPICAL FRUITS. 

Space will admit only of reference to those fruits of the semi- 
tropical class which have reached considerable commercial impor- 
tance; others which are at present succeeding with amateurs, and 
some of which may ere long reach economic account, are too numer- 
ous for discussion. Suffice it to say that the date fruits freely in 
central parts of the State and is now to be advanced by systematic 
effort through plantings on the Colorado desert by the United States 
Department of Agriculture. The banana is fruited for home use 
in many thermal situations. The pineapple is grown in frostless 
places near the coast in Southern California. The cherimoyer is 
found in the markets of Los Angeles, while the alligator pear grown 
in Southern California reaches the markets of San Francisco as well. 
The latter fruit is quite hardy in several parts of the State. The 
guava and the loquat are produced for local use, and new varieties 
of the latter originated in Southern California are likely to be 
widely known. The persimmon and pomegranate grow in nearly all 
fruit districts, but only a limited amount can be profitably disposed 
of either locally or by distant shipment. Many other fruits deserve 
like mention, but must be passed over. 



HORTICULTURE IN CALIFORNIA. 67 

The fig is one of the great fruits of California. Old 
Fig. trees attain the dimensions and aspect of oaks and bear 

so much fruit that it becomes of some importance in 
swine-feeding. The tree is perfectly hardy in all coast and interior 
situations (except in a few places where the temperature falls ten or 
twelve degrees below freezing) and no thought is given to protec- 
tion. This fact, demonstrated more than a century ago by the 
padres at the old missions, naturally suggested the fig as a great 
commercial fruit and for decades it has been successfully grown, 
and trees have been reported to the number of 251,856 in nearly all 
counties except those of the mountains. Production has, however, 
been restricted by the fact that fresh figs do not take kindly to long 
shipment, and by the fact that our dried figs did not compare well 
with the product of Smyrna. This condition has, however, been 
completely changed by the experience of the last two years. The fig 
industry comes upon a new basis through the successful introduction 
of the pollination insect which is essential to the success of the 
Smyrna fig. California Smyrna figs are now being produced in 
considerable quantities and California is thus equipped to enter into 
competition with the time-honored Asiatic product for the world's 
trade in dried figs. Trees of the true Smyrna varieties, and of the 
wild fig which favors the multiplication of the insect, have been 
growing for years in dififerent parts of the State, but the insect was 
absent and the trees unproductive. With these old plantings and the 
new orchards now being planted, there will be a large product of 
higher-class dried figs than has been produced hitherto. Much in- 
terest is now being manifested in this enterprise. 

The olive is another fruit which has been successfully 
Olive. grown in California for more than a century. The 

importance of the olive as a food in the south of Europe 
and its standing as an export thence to populous northern countries, 
coupled doubtless with its favored place in song and story, induced 
a premature popularity among California fruit-planters, and expe- 
rience with the fruit has not justified all the expectations cherished 
for it. Planting has practically ceased and considerable acreage 
has been displaced. There are many difficulties with the olive 
which may be briefly mentioned : The popularity and acceptability 
of cheap substitute oils for salad purposes militate directly against 
profitable production of olive oil, because appreciation of the supe- 
riority of the latter is less liberal than expected ; pickled ripe olives 
are difficult to produce with good keeping qualities; the fruit itself 
is largely subject to interior decay in advance of maturity ; the trees 
of many varieties which have been largely planted are shy in bear- 
ing; trees planted in dry places do not grow and bear as promised 
by optimistic promoters ; the work of gathering the fruit and secur- 
ing its products is more difficult and costly than calculated. The 
fact is, the olive was boomed in California along spectacular and 
speculative lines, and the industry must outlive the mistakes which 
have been made. California will produce profitably good olives 
and olive products in suitable places and through the efforts of 



68 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

masterful men and women who can rise to the requirements of pro- 
duction and protection against imitation articles of the trade. 

Wonderful progress has been made in developing the 
Lemon. lemon industry in California, and imported lemons 

have been measurably displaced from the markets of 
the United States by the California product. New varieties have 
been secured, and new methods of culture and fruit-handling have 
been devised. The record, of planting shows nearly 2,000,000 trees 
now growing in the State and about 2,000 carloads of the fruit have 
been shipped to distant markets in a single year. Though lemon- 
growing is practiced in most sections where oranges are produced, 
the present product is chiefly made in the three counties of Santa 
Barbara, Ventura and San Diego; all of them coast counties of 
Southern California and the last named county is the banner lemon 
county of the State. The lemon does best in a practically frostless 
place, being more tender than the orange. For this reason the chief 
product is in the southern coast counties. In suitable situations in 
the interior, however, the lemon does well, but has been largely dis- 
placed by the orange, which has been on the whole more profitable 
and is marketable fresh from the trees, while the lemon requires 
curing and a good part of the crop has to be held from winter 
maturity to be sold in the following midsummer, when the chief 
demand for lemons occurs. 

California has accomplished more with the orange than 
Orangre. with any other single fruit, and the advance during the 

last few years has been exceedingly rapid. At present, 
not only is the United States largely supplied with California 
oranges, but the fruit is being successfully sold in England and Ger- 
many. There are upwards of 5,500,000 trees in the State and the 
shipment beyond State lines has reached 25,000 carloads. Nine- 
tenths of this vast amount of fruit comes from Southern California, 
but recent plantings have been largely in the foothills east of the San 
Joaquin and Sacramento valleys in the central part of the State. 
The orange thrives in suitable situations through a north and south 
distance of over six hundred miles, and the topography of the State 
is such that similar winter and summer temperatures occur all 
through this distance. There is fortunately, however, some differ- 
ence in the ripening of the fruit in the different portions of this 
belt, and the northern portion, because of its mountain environment 
and distance from the ocean, has an earlier spring and summer and 
is therefore able to ripen its oranges for an earlier autumn market. 
This difference distributes the fruit through a greater number of 
months and is of great advantage to the product. In fact, by choice 
of early and late varieties and by using the variation in the season of 
maturity, California can furnish fresh oranges in large quantities 
all through the calendar year and renders the country practically 
independent of importations. Another advantage peculiar to Cali- 
fornia is that the orange grown in a dry summer is more dense in 
texture and has much better keeping and shipping quality than an 
orange grown in a humid summer. The fruit is also more sprightly 



HORTICULTURE IN CALIFORNIA. 69 

and refreshing, and though there is some controversy over the 
alleged superior sweetness of the Gulf fruit, the demand for the 
California fruit and the prices which it commands are evidences of 
its wide popularity. Although the California growers have made 
the most energetic and systematic efforts for the wide distribution of 
the product, for several years the fruit has proven so acceptable that 
it is evident that the consuming capacity of the United States is still 
beyond reach and the outlook for the California orange is very 
promising. 

The pomelo, or grapefruit, is also grown in California, but has not 
met the extent of demand which was anticipated. 

SMALL FRUITS. 

In California the term "small fruits" signifies only berries and 
currants, as the cherry is always classed by us with other great 
orchard fruits and the grape stands alone as the foundation of a 
great fruit industry, as has been indicated. Aside from supplies 
for home use and local markets there is a large field for small-fruit 
growing for shipment. Berries are largely used by canners, as is 
shown by the output of 1903, viz. : blackberries, 35.556 cases ; Logan- 
berries, 4,307 cases; strawberries, 15,320 cases; raspberries, 6,505 
cases. Small fruits are also shipped from California to markets 
from one to two thousand miles distant in the interior states and 
territories to the north and east. The earlier ripening of these fruits 
in California gives our shippers an opportunity to place the product 
in this vast region, although there are home-grown supplies later in 
the year. The growing of small fruits is scattered over the State, 
and the special regions are widely distant from each other. The 
most prominent for strawberries are the San Gabriel valley in Los 
Angeles county, the Pajaro vallej^ in Santa Cruz and Monterey 
counties, and the Florin section in Sacramento county. There are. 
however, many places which have a smaller acreage, but special rep- 
utation for fruit out of season ; in fact, it is possible to find ripe 
strawberries every month in the year at some point or other in the 
State. 

A GENERAL REMARK. 

On the whole, the fruit products of California are being easily 
disposed of at fairly remunerative rates, and the business is in good 
heart and enjoys a good outlook. There is, of course, fluctuation in 
the values of different fruits and in the market conditions which 
they meet at distant points. Such "off years" strike the fruits 
somewhat irregularly and are discouraging first to one special 
grower and then to another, and as our localities are largely given 
to specializing, according to favoring culture conditions, there is 
opportunity for complaint somcAvhere nearly every year. Still, we 
find that our fruit-growing districts have the busiest towns, the 
handsomest rural improvements, the largest assessment rolls, and 
are most attractive to homeseekers. While these things are true our 
fruit industries must be counted in prosperous condition, although 
the greatest anticipations are not always realized. 



70 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

ORANGE^GROWING IN CALIFORNIA. 



By a. H. NAFTZGER, 

President of California Fruit Agency. 



Entirely apart from tlie question of profit, the cultivation of 
the orange is doubtless the most fascinating of all horticultural 
pursuits. The hardiness and ready response of the tree to good 
care; its perpetual rich green foliage; the exquisite fragrance of 
its bloom, and the aromatic flavor of the fruit, all lend an un- 
failing charm. 

The coming of the orange into California dates almost, if not 
quite, with the coming of the Franciscan missionaries, who were 
practically expelled from the missions in Lower California more 
than one hundred and thirty years ago. Coming up into what 
is now the Golden State, they established twenty-one missions, 
scattered from San Diego to the Sacramento valley, all but three 
of which had gardens and orchards. The orange was among the 
fruits cultivated in quite a number of these mission gardens. 
These early plantings of orange trees were as much for orna- 
mentation about the missions and village plazas as for the fruit, 
and for nearly one hundred years the fruit produced only met 
the small local requirements of the scattered settlements. No 
authentic records are obtainable as to the exact quantity of oranges 
produced in those early years, as it was not until the seculariza- 
tion of the missions in 1834 that any inventories were made. That 
of the Santa Ynez mission reported 987 fruit trees ; San Fernando 
mission, 1,600 fruit trees; San Gabriel mission, 2,333 fruit trees. 
After the secularization of the missions, even the limited fruit 
industry of those years began to decline, so that General Fremont, 
when visiting California in 1846, reported that: "Little remains 
of the orchards that were kept in high cultivation at the missions. 
Fertile valleys are overgrown with wild mustard. Vineyards and 
olive orchards are decayed and neglected." A few of the mission 
orchards passed into the hands of the early settlers, who turned 
them to great profit. 

While, as stated, orange trees were among the earliest intro- 
duced into the State by the Mission Fathers, comparatively little 
was done in citrus fruit-growing until the last half of the nine- 
teenth century. The most extensive orchard of early planting was 
at the San Gabriel mission, supposed to have been set out in 1804 
by Father Thomas Sanchez. A small orchard was planted at 
Los Angeles in 1834 by Louis Vignes, and the same year, one by 
Manuel Requena. In 1841 William Wolfskill planted two acres, 
which was probably the first orange orchard set out in California 
with the primary object of profit. Other small orchards were set 
out at various points, including Old San Bernardino and Crafton, 



ORANGE-GROWING IN CALIFORNIA. 



71 



so that in 1862 there were said to have been 25,000 orange trees 
in the entire State, two-thirds of which were in the Wolfskill 
orchard in Los Angeles. After this there was a somewhat steady 
but slow increase until 1870, when Riverside was founded with 
the special purpose to grow oranges. 

It was only with the coming of the railroad into Southern Cali- 
fornia, affording transportation for the products of the orchard, 
that the orange industry gained impetus. Prior to that there were 
no markets accessible for any considerable quantity of fruit. 

From 1870 to 1890 there was a veritable boom in orange-tree 
planting, which continues with considerable activity to this time. 
It is said that up to about 1873 not over $25,000 had been in- 




IRRIGATING THE TREES. 



vested in the orange industry in all of California. Today the 
direct investment in the citrus fruit industry in Southern Cali- 
fornia is fully $50,000,000, with fully another $50,000,000 of 
investments indirectly due to the citrus fruit business. This mar- 
velous change was wrought chiefly by the coming of the navel or 
seedless orange. 

The history of the navel orange in California reads like a fairy 
tale. It has revolutionized the orange business of the country. It 
has been the means of transforming thousands of acres of semi- 
desert land into soil probably as productive and profitable as any 
on the globe. It has brought into existence on hitherto arid plains 
a number of towns and cities ranging in population from 4,000 
to 10,000 each. These settlements have become most progressive 



72 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES^ ETC. 

in every way. They are the homes of people of taste and refine- 
ment, demanding every modern convenience and improvement. 
Immense sums of money have been invested in water systems, 
trolley lines, driveways and boulevards, public libraries, schools, 
churches, and everything that stands for the highest type of civili- 
zation. As already stated, many millions have already been 
added to the taxable wealth of the State, through the advent of 
the navel orange into California. It is claimed that this orange 
was originally a freak of nature. Whether this be true or not, it 
is certainly the highest type of citrus fruit. 

In 1872 William F. Judson, United States consul at Bahia, 
Brazil, learned from the natives that a few trees were growing in 
the swamps on the banks of the Amazon, some sixty miles inland, 
bearing oranges without seeds. Being himself of a scientific turn 
of mind, and having some knowledge of orange-growing as fol- 
lowed in Florida, Mr. Judson believed that seedless orange trees 
were well worth experimenting with. He sent a native up the 
river to cut some of the shoots and to bring back some of the fruit. 
On receipt of them, with which he was greatly pleased, he sent 
six of the shoots, carefully packed in wet moss and clay, to the 
Department of Agriculture at Washington. These shoots did not 
excite as much interest in the department as Mr. Judson had ex- 
pected. Two of the six trees died from lack of care in the depart- 
ment grounds, and the others were almost forgotten within a 
short time. 

In the following year, Mrs. Eliza M. Tibbets, a native of Maine, 
was visiting in the family of General Benjamin F. Butler at 
Washington, then a Congressman from Massachusetts. Her hus- 
band had shortly before moved to California and pre-empted 
some land in what is now Riverside, intending to grow semi- 
tropical fruits. Through an introduction from General Butler 
Mrs. Tibbets sought of the Department of Agriculture fruits and 
shrubs suitable for experimental propagation in Southern Cali- 
fornia. Among other specimens she got from the department the 
four surviving orange-tree shoots from Brazil. These reached 
Mr. Tibbets at Riverside in December, 1873, and were immediately 
planted. One of the shoots died from neglect ; another was chewed 
up by a cow. 

Five years later the two remaining trees came into bearing, 
producing in the winter of 1878-79 sixteen oranges— the first seed- 
less oranges ever grown in North America. These specimens were 
carried about Southern California and exhibited to the few fruit- 
growers then interested in orange-growing. The second crop was 
a box of oranges of better quality than the first. This spread the 
fame of the seedless orange, and ranchers from far and near went 
to Riverside to see the trees. Some were enthusiastic, others were 
doubtful. The feeling among fruit-growers of that period was 
perhaps well expressed in a statement made by ex-Senator J. E. 
McComas of Pomona. He said: 

' ' I remember the time I saw some of the second crop of Tibbets ' 



ORANGE-GROWING IN CALIFORNIA. 



73 



seedless navel oranges. Several of us seedling-orange growers 
went up to Riverside purposely to see what truth there was in 
the statement that Luther Tibbets had trees that grew oranges 
without seeds. We looked the two trees over and over, and sam- 
pled the fruit, and wondered how it could be. Larger and juicier 
and more pungent fruit we had never known, but it all seemed 
so freaky that no one dared to risk several thousand dollars and 
six or seven years in trying to grow navel oranges for market. 
Moreover, none of us knew how to go at having a grove of seedless 
oranges, because there was no seed to start it." 

Sure that there was a fortune in his new variety of oranges, 
Mr. Tibbets experimented for two years in an effort to propagate 




SETTING OUT THE TREES. 



trees from shoots and cuttings from his two seedless trees. These 
attempts were failures. Finally he hit upon the scheme of bud- 
ding from the seedless navel trees upon seedling trees. These ex- 
periments were successful. So fine was the quality of the fruit, 
and so promising the returns, that the planting of navel orange 
trees budded from these original trees began in earnest in the 
early eighties. The demand for buds was so great that they sold 
for as high as $5 a dozen, and it is said that in some instances for 
$1 a bud. From this beginning has grown the enormous orange 
business of California. 

Less than twenty-five years ago, as stated, the whole crop of 
seedless oranges in California was one box. From this small be- 
ginning the industry has grown until in a single year we have had 
over six million boxes of this most delicious fruit ! 



74 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

There are at this date probably 60,000 acres of orange orchards 
in California, chiefly navels, most of which are in bearing; and 
about 15,000 acres of lemons. This has been accomplished by the 
expenditure of many millions of dollars in water development and 
distributing systems and other things necessary to the development 
and maintenance of orange orchards. 

The Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, in estimating the value 
of the various products of Southern California, places the citrus 
fruit crop first, giving its value at $14,000,000 per annum. 

During the period of ten years from 1892 to 1902, the product 
of our citrus fruit orchards increased from 1,325,000 boxes to 
8,577,000, or an average increase of 23 per cent each year for the 
ten years. A similar increase in the total volume of fruit is 
likely to continue for some years to come. 

This marvelous growth is evidence that the industry has been 
profitable. That it will be permanently prosperous there can be 
no doubt, unless the tariff wall should be broken down or some 
unforeseen disaster overtake it. 



ORANGES IN THE SIERRA FOOTHILLS, 



[From an article by J. Parker Whitney in Sunset Magazine. By 

permission.] 



The orange tree may reasonably be considered the king of fruit 
trees, particularly in California, where the climatic conditions and 
prolific soil are more generally favorable than elsewhere. 

It is unnecessary here to enumerate varieties, the object being 
to consider the navel orange and its commercial value. This 
orange — and especially the "Washington Improved" — may be 
admitted without discussion to be the first of all, by reason of its 
many superior qualities; being seedless and compact, of superior 
flavor, and possessing wonderful keeping qualities. 

The first orange trees of which we have any record in California 
were set out at the San Gabriel mission, supposedly in 1804, by 
Father Thomas Sanchez, followed by others at Los Angeles in 
1834, and by William Wolfskill in 1841. The first planting of a 
tree in Northern California was by Jesse Morrill at Sacramento in 
1855. This tree from Acapulco seed was transported to Butte 
county by John Bidwell in 1857, and is still vigorous and bearing 
heavily. The first navel orange tree planted in the State was 
by Luther C. Tibbets and his wife at Riverside in 1873. 

Some ten years after the planting at Riverside the navel tree 
moved north several hundred miles, reaching to Butte county 
and beyond, where it was found to flourish fully as well as in the 



ORANGES IN THE SIERRA FOOTHILLS. 



75 



southern part of the State ; but its value and adaptability to the 
foothills of the central and northern counties, though appreciated 
by the few, was not generally known until recent years. But the 
fact does exist most clearly and distinctly and beyond any possible 
controversy, that the orange in its variety can be most successfully 
grown for several hundred miles north of Tehachapi. 

The region in the north adaptable for successful orange-grow- 
ing is in excess of that south of Tehachapi. The orange ripens 
in the central and northern foothills from three to six weeks earlier 
than in the south. The explanation of this early ripening is the 
warm belt extending from north to south along the foothills of 
the Sierra Nevada mountains, where the average mean tempera- 



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A THRIFTY YOUNG ORCHARD. 



ture, sixty degrees Fahrenheit, is about the same as in the orange 
grove region of the south, but warmer during June, July and 
August. The nights are warmer than those at groves near the 
seacoast. 

The months of June, July and August are the most important 
ones of the year for the citrus fruits. The constant and greater 
heat in the foothill lands gives the orange great progress. Nor do 
the pests of black and red scale appear. Young trees from else- 
where showing scale, become healthful. 

The navel orange, however favorable the latitude, does not reach 
its perfection on sea-girt islands, as shown by the products of 
Hawaii, Cuba, and even Australia. Although the navel orange 
is a semi-tropic product, it does not reach its perfection in a region 



76 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

where the mean average temperature is much higher than sixty de- 
grees. It is held by tliose familiar with the subject that so far as 
present experience goes, each region having its peculiarities, no 
region in the world exists, all conditions considered, that can com- 
pare with the foothills of California for orange culture. 

The navel orange in Florida has been a shy bearer. The sweet 
orange now grown there somewhat extensively is from lands far 
south, as the more northern orange lands have been abandoned, 
owing to the severity of frosts and the cold weather. 

The magnitude of future demand is hardly estimated yet, but 
it will have to be supplied almost wholly from California. The 
earlier harvest of the Sierra foothills is of immense value, as it 
will give it a priority in the markets. 

The word isothermal has its application and definition in a sup- 
posed line of temperature over the surface of the earth, be it warm 
or cold, and is determined by careful observation as to mean an- 
nual temperature. California, commencing at the level of the sea, 
has mountain ranges of great height which reach to an average 
temperature of say forty degrees; other ranges of less height, to 
an average of fifty degrees; foothill districts with an average of 
sixty degrees, and some deserts on a level with the sea— and in some 
instances over a hundred feet below sea-level— where the average 
temperature is seventy degrees ; so one finds regions of almost per- 
petual snow contiguous to those of tropical heat. Altitude does 
not wholly account for temperature, though affecting it; for cur- 
rents of air, influenced by the sea and ranges of hills and moun- 
tains, effect an apparently abnormal condition in certain districts. 

At the United States AVeather Bureau a most careful daily 
record has been kept, extending over a series of years, of tempera- 
ture, rainfall, and barometrical pressures. This has become very 
valuable for reference, and maps have been published annually of 
controlling factors, and lines of temperature have been clearly 
established, with corresponding rainfall, which have an important 
bearing upon agricultural and horticultural pursuits. It is fully 
conceded that the region in California most applicable for the 
successful growing of citrus fruits is where the average tempera- 
ture is sixty degrees. Below that is found too cold, where de- 
structive frosts occur; and above that, although some citrus fruits 
do well, there is a marked loss of flavor in the navel, which re- 
quires the particular elements of the average sixty-degree region 
of temperature to impart the peculiar tonic flavor. None but 
tropical lands are entirely free from frosts; even the southern 
desert land of the State, where the average temperature is seventy 
degrees, receives an occasional visitation. Some frosts are very 
light in effect, while the black frost, so called, which is hard and 
dry, is more damaging, and is more confined to the flat lands by the 
gravitation of cold air from the foothills, giving a remarkable 
feature favorable to the latter districts. Other foothill features 
result in. the early ripening of oranges and consequent harvesting 
in October and November, avoiding the heavier frosts which occur 



ORANGES IN THE SIERRA FOOTHILLS. 



77 



the latter part of December and in January, which occasionally 
do much damage to oranges in other sections. Oranges, when frost- 
bitten, are impaired in quality, and decay rapidly. 

The State of California covers in latitude between 700 and 800 
miles, yet the thermal belt of sixty degrees mean temperature, in 
its meandering course north and south, extends over a distance 
somewhat exceeding 1,100 miles, and a width varying from 5 
to 20 miles. It should not be assumed that all of the land within 
the thermal belt is good land for orange-growing, but a large 
proportion of it is, comprising many hundreds of thousands of 
acres, where the fertility of the soil is unequaled and the supply 
of irrigation water is in excess of all possible demands. The 




PICKING THE FBUIT. 



isothermal belt of sixty degrees mean temperature enters Cali- 
fornia from Nevada on the east, at Mono county, extending south- 
ward into Kern county, where it somewhat abruptly turns and 
proceeds north through the counties of Tulare, Fresno, Madera, 
Mariposa, Tuolumne, Calaveras, Amador, El Dorado, Placer, Yuba, 
Butte, Tehama and Shasta. In the latter county, five hundred 
miles north of Los Angeles, it curves westward into Trinity and 
southward through Glenn. Lake, Yolo, Napa, Solano, Contra Costa, 
Alameda, Santa Clara, San Benito, San Luis Obispo, and finally 
through Santa Barbara to the sea upon the west, having traversed 
or touched some thirty counties of the State. 

The orange tree is peculiar among fruit trees in several respects. 
It is longer lived than any other excepting the olive, and although 



78 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

its length of life in California has not yet been determined, it is 
found in other countries growing and bearing at an age of several 
hundred years. It can be taken up and planted in other spots 
suitable for it at any season of the year, whether in blossom or 
with growing fruit. More tender in its infancy than other fruit 
trees, it is stronger in maturity than many others, and while neg- 
lect for a period will destroy the life and value of many deciduous 
fruit trees, from which a renewal of vigor and bearing is impos- 
sible, the orange tree will revive, with care and attention, to a 
vigorous bearing state. 

The navel, having no seeds, is budded on stock grown from other 
citrus seeds. It makes little difference what kind, seedling, the 
Mediterranean Sweet, the Tahiti, lemon or grapefruit. The latter 
is generally preferred from its supposedly stronger roots. 

No tree is more prolific than the orange in bearing, its weight of 
fruit often exceeding that of its own wood and foliage above 
ground and its roots below. Any good citrus tree may be budded 
from any other citrus tree, be it orange, lemon, citron or grape- 
fruit, and buds will grow and produce fruit strictly true to the 
tree budded from, without any strain of admixture resulting 
from the particular tree taking the bud. It is not uncommon to 
see an orange tree bearing both oranges and lemons as well as 
grapefruit. 

California's foothill lands have not been planted long enough in 
oranges to show the remarkable yields noted by some of the oldest 
orchards in the Southern California region, where as high as one 
thousand boxes an acre have been harvested, but some exceptional 
trees are now yielding from ten to fifteen boxes to the tree. The 
net average weight of a box of navel oranges is sixty-five pounds, 
and three hundred and sixty-five boxes constitute the usual carload. 

While the orange tree requires more care than perhaps any 
other, the methods are now well understood and are far in advance 
of those in vogue with the earlier growers and are not attended 
by any difficulties, but an eye to proper locality must be given as 
well as good soil and drainage. Irrigating water must be obtain- 
able and must be regularly applied during the summer months, 
followed by cultivation of the upper soil. 

The actual cost of plowing land thoroughly and planting the 
first year, followed by irrigation and cultivation, exclusive of land 
and tree cost, may be estimated at about $30 an acre. By the 
fourth year a well-managed orchard should pay all expenses of 
carrying on, and should each year after increase in its yield until 
a maximum of five or six boxes to the tree is obtained. 



/c 



<:?o 



THE OLIVE IN CALIFORNIA. 79 



THE OLIVE IN CALIFORNIA. 



By GEORGE C. ROEDING, 
Chief of the Department of Horticulture. 



The first olive trees to be planted in California were introduced 
about 1770 by the Spanish padres. As the padres gradually 
pushed northward the olive tree continued to be a part of their 
fruit gardens, its product forming not only an important feature 
in the culinary department, but having an additional value for use 
in their religious ceremonies. Some of the olive trees planted by 
the padres are still to be found at several of the ruined missions, and 
although receiving practically no care, they continue to yield fruit, 
bearing ample testimony to their longevity. 

The Redding Picholine, deriving its prefix from the name of the 
introducer, was the first variety of olive sought to be planted exten- 
sively in California, it being claimed that it was valuable for both 
oil and pickles. Experience later showed that it was of no value for 
the last named purpose, as it was too small. In later years it was 
grafted over to more desirable varieties. As it adapted itself so 
well to our conditions, the future seemed to be full of promise for 
the olive business, and varieties were imported from Italy, Spain 
and France. Within a few years these were widely distributed 
over the State before their commercial value had been fully deter- 
mined. The invariable result followed. Many growers found they 
had planted varieties which would not produce well, or which did 
not fulfill the recommendations of the introducer. 

This has been the experience in all lines of fruit-growing in Cali- 
fornia. The novice always wants to plant a large number of varie- 
ties, believing that by so doing he will be assured of a crop, as all of 
them will not fail to bear. Instead of this being the case, there is 
never enough of any one variety to make it an object for a dealer 
to handle the crop. As a consequence, orchards in many instances 
have been uprooted and other varieties of fruits planted in their 
place. 

Another serious drawback to the olive industry was the infesta- 
tion of the trees in the coast counties with black scale. This pest 
has now been overcome by the introduction of the Scutellista cyanea, 
a small parasitic fly which lays its eggs in the scales, the larvae later 
eating the scales. 

The growers who have remained in the business and who have 
faith in its future have come to the conclusion that varieties adapted 
to either oil or pickling purposes are the ones to plant. The Mission 
olive (the one introduced by the padres) takes precedence over all 
others, and this is followed by the Manzanillo and Nevadillo Blanco. 
For pickling purposes alone the Ascolano, Obliza, St. Agostino, and 
Sevillano will no doubt receive more attention as the industry grows. 



80 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

The last named variety is the one so extensively exported from 
Spain under the name of ' ' Queen Olive. ' ' 

Olives find conditions congenial to their successful culture as far 
south as San Diego, and northward under the very brow of Mount 
Shasta. However, the interior valleys and a good, warm foothill 
location seem to present conditions more favorable to the growing 
of the olive than the coast counties ; the trees not only develop faster 
and produce larger crops, but the fruit averages larger in size and 
matures earlier, thus escaping injury from frost— a point which 
must have very careful consideration when olives are grown for 
pickling. It has been found that olives can not be grown profitably 
on rocky hillsides ; but when planted in a deep, warm alluvial soil, 
they respond to good cultivation as readily as any other fruit. 
Where sufficient moisture is not supplied by the season's rainfall 
irrigation must be resorted to. 

In Italy the seeds of a thrifty wild stock are planted, and when 
large enough are either budded or grafted. The trees are grown 
exclusively in pots, and it takes about six years before they are 
ready for the market. In California trees are sometimes grown 
in this manner, except that the seedlings are planted in the open, 
in nursery rows, and the budding or grafting is done there, with the 
result that trees are grown in just about half the time. The 
most popular method of propagating olives is to grow them from 
soft wood cuttings, which are planted in sand, either on the bench 
of a propagating house, or in flat boxes about four inches deep. 
These boxes are then placed on hotbeds under glass, and after about 
five months the cuttings commence to make root. The following 
season they are planted in nursery rows. A four-year-old tree has 
been found to be the most satisfactory for transplanting to the 
orchard. The trees should be planted about twenty-five feet apart. 
In former years closer planting was followed, but this was a mistake, 
and our horticulturists are becoming more and more impressed 
with the fact that better results are secured when trees are given 
more room in which to develop. 

A properly pruned olive orchard presents a striking feature in 
our rural landscape; the green of the foliage is so distinct and 
unlike that of other varieties of fruit trees that the contrast is a 
most pleasing one. To begin with, the tree should be headed low, 
not over eighteen inches from the ground, and a systematic method 
of shortening in and thinning out of the lateral branches should be 
followed the first four seasons in order to develop a well-shaped, 
vase-formed head. The prevailing idea that an olive tree requires 
no pruning is erroneous, for without it the tree sends up a mass of 
straight shoots, which, if allowed to grow unchecked, will present 
a bare and unsightly appearance, and the only fruit-bearing wood 
will be at the tips of the branches, and there will be very little even 
of this. If the tree has been properly trained while young the prun- 
ing in later years will be an easy matter and the fruit-bearing 
branches will extend from close to the ground to the very top of the 
tree — an ideal condition. 



THE OLIVE IN CALIFORNIA. 



81 



An olive tree will commence to bear four years after planting, and 
will be in full bearing in about ten years. Twenty pounds of fruit 
is a conservative estimate at four years, and this will increase each 
season until the full bearing age, when one hundred and fifty 
pounds per tree is a fair average crop. The olive, unlike other fruit 
trees, does not bear with uniformity. It often happens that with two 
trees of the same kind and apparently of equal thriftiness, one will 
be loaded with fruit, while the other will have a light crop. The 
trees bloom in the early part of May, and when covered with their 
small white blossoms and prominent yellow anthers present a novel 
and interesting sight. If one-eighth of the fruit sets a big crop will 
be harvested. The blooming period is the most critical one, and 




SORTING OLIVES. 



although there is no danger from frost, a high wind or wet weather 
will very seriously affect the setting of the fruit. 

Where conditions have been found to be favorable to olive-grow- 
ing in California, crops are harvested every season. A failure of 
the crop is the exception. The harvesting commences in the warmer 
sections of the State about the middle of September. The green 
olives are picked at this time, the largest fruit being selected, and 
the most heavily laden trees are thinned out, as this hastens the 
maturing of the fruit. An overloaded tree will take fully a month 
longer to ripen its fruit than one which has only an average crop. 
Great care should be exercised in gathering olives for pickling pur- 
poses, for bruised olives will invariably go to pieces while being 
processed. The fruit should always be picked in baskets or buckets 

6 



82 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

lined with cloth or burlap. Olives for pickling purposes can not be 
harvested for less than $20 per ton. 

No fixed rule can be laid down for pickling the olive, but one 
point above all others should be borne in mind, and that is not to 
penetrate the flesh too deeply with lye. Another great objection 
to our pickled green olives has been the lack of uniformity in color, 
and, when compared with the imported goods, dealers are justified 
in making this criticism. It has been intimated that the imported 
olives are colored chemically, but this, in the opinion of the writer, 
is not the case. The evenness of color is due to the use of limewater. 
This is easily made by dissolving about three ounces of lime to the 
gallon of water. After standing for about twenty-four hours the 
water is ready for use. In taking the limewater out of the recep- 
tacle it should be either siphoned or drawn off, so as not to disturb 
the lime which has settled to the bottom of the vessel. To each 
gallon of limewater add three ounces of lye, allowing the olives to 
remain in this solution until penetrated about a sixteenth of an inch. 
No further treatment with lye should be given. After being washed 
with clear water for a number of days, until all vestiges of the lye 
have disappeared, they should be immersed in a twelve-ounce brine 
by the saltometer, which strength should be gradually increased to 
twenty-four per cent. The olives are now ready to be barreled up 
and rolled away, and except for an occasional opening of the bung, 
to allow the gases which have formed to escape, and for adding 
new brine, if any should have evaporated, they will require no fur- 
ther attention. After six months of this treatment much of the 
bitter principle will be absorbed and the olives are then ready for 
market. Before marketing, the olives should be placed in a thirty 
per cent brine and the water used should be either distilled or 
boiled. Many of the large pickling concerns of the State do not 
bottle their goods until a year, or even two years, after they have 
been processed. This then, briefly, is the process for pickling green 
olives. 

The method of pickling ripe olives is much the same, except that 
it is necessary to give them a second lye bath, the limewater being 
in this instance eliminated. The second processing is given more 
for the purpose of securing a uniform, dark luster in the olive than 
for any other reason, and as soon as the olives have reached this 
point the liquid should be drawn off. The after processing is much 
the same as for green olives. In picking ripe olives much care 
should be exercised to secure fruit which is of an even color. It is 
an utter impossibility, however, to have all the fruit alike. The 
processing will do much to secure this, and where it does not the 
olives must be hand-sorted. The keeping of ripe olives has been 
the problem above all others which the growers have had to face. 
The ripe olives being so much softer, difficulties not to be found in 
the green olive have presented themselves. Experiments in canning 
have been so successful that this will finally be the solution of this 
trouble, and canned ripe olives will, within a few years, be an article 
of trade just as much as canned peaches, pears, etc., are today. The 



THE OLIVE IN CALIFORNIA. 83 

ripe olive, wherever introduced, has found more favor among con- 
sumers than the hard, woody, green olive, and now that the difficulty 
of keeping it has been solved this branch of the industry will un- 
questionably make rapid advances. There is as much difference 
in the flavor of a ripe olive, as compared with the green, as there is 
between a luscious, ripe peach and a green one. Not only this, but 
the ripe olive is a nutritious, delectable article of food, while the 
green olivie simply serves as a relish. 

Olives for pickling purposes sell for from $60 to $80 per ton, the 
price being regulated largely by the variety and size of the fruit. 

Olives to be made into oil can be handled at much less expense 
than when they are required for pickles. When being picked for 
oil-making the fruit is either stripped from the trees, or knocked 
off with poles having a piece of rubber hose at one end, to prevent 
the branches being injured. A canvas sheet is spread under the 
tree and after enough olives have been gathered they are dumped 
into boxes. No precaution need be taken to prevent the olive from 
being bruised. Frozen olives make equally as good oil as those that 
are not frost-bitten, and the fruit can remain on the trees for a 
month or more before pressing and there will be no deterioration 
in the quality of the oil. Frozen olives have less water and conse- 
quently are more easily handled by the oil-makers. When the olives 
are received at the packing-house they are first run through a fan- 
ning mill or an aspirator, to remove all dirt and leaves. Leaves, 
even if left in, do not seem to impair the quality of the oil. The 
olives are next crushed by heavy iron or stone rollers revolving in 
a shallow iron pan, built something on the plan of a large saucer. 
This crusher may be run by horsepower, but in all modern plants 
the machinery is operated by either a steam or a gasoline engine; 
the former is preferable, as the steam can be used for cleaning the 
plant. In crushing, the pits as well as the pulp of the olive are re- 
duced. It has been found impracticable to do otherwise, and the 
statement that has been made that an inferior article is produced 
when the pits are crushed is a fallacy, just as much so as that the 
virgin oil comes from the first pressing. This is good trade talk, 
but is never carried out in actual practice. The first pressing is 
usually light and the resultant product is largely water. Before 
making the second pressing the pomace is again crushed and then 
placed in a larger press, which exerts a pressure of about two 
hundred tons to the square inch. This is followed in some instances 
by another crushing and pressing. This last pressing is largely a 
matter of judgment on the part of the man in charge of the plant. 
The oil and water from the presses are run into settling tanks. 
Here the oil remains for from twenty-four to thirty-six hours, when 
it is skimmed off into storage tanks, where it remains until ready 
for use. These tanks are built of galvanized iron and hold from 
five hundred to one thousand gallons each. After the oil stands in 
the tanks for six months it is ready for bottling. If the grower 
can afford to allow it to stand undisturbed for a year it is better. 
The oil goes through a sort of fermentation during this time and 



84 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

all impurities settle to the bottom. Before marketing the oil is 
filtered through several thicknesses of filtering paper to still further 
clarify it. 

One of the most important features to be observed in an olive 
mill is cleanliness. Olive oil is a great absorbent of bad odors and 
soon becomes rancid if care is not exercised in its manufacture. 
A ton of olives will produce from thirty-five to forty gallons of oil. 
When ready for market the oil is put up in half, one and five gallon 
tins; also in half -pint, pint and quart bottles. It retails for $2.50 
per gallon, and quart bottles are sold for from 85 cents to $1, the 
price being largely regulated by the size of the bottle used. 

California oil-makers take great pride in the purity of their goods 
and the oil can be relied upon as strictly pure. Oil olives sell for 
from $30 to $40 per ton. This is not a very remunerative price, 
to be sure, but olives used for this purpose are those which are 
small or defective and can not be pickled, so that making them 
into oil helps to clean up the crop. The great obstacle in the path 
of finding a ready market for pure oil has been the competition 
of the adulterated oils either imported from Europe, or prepared 
l>y jobbers who make it a business to mix the pure article with 
eotton-seed, peanut, and other vegetable oils. If our national 
fruit laws can be so enforced as to compel those engaged in this 
nefarious practice to label their bottles, showing the true content, 
it will do much toward building up a business in California. If 
properly advertised, olive oil for medicinal purposes alone would 
1)6 in great demand, for it will do more good to poor, suffering 
humanity than all the nostrums so universally used and so vigor- 
ously pushed to the front. Advertising and putting up a thoroughly 
good and reliable article will do more to build up the business and 
develop it than any other one thing that can be followed. 

The annual output of olive oil in California is in the neighborhood 
of 150,000 gallons; green pickles, 150,000 gallons, and ripe pickles, 
80,000 gallons. The importation of olive oil for the fiscal year 
ending June 30, 1903, was 1,250,823 gallons, valued at $1,557,517, 
and of pickles 2,115,844 gallons, valued at $770,194. 

California fruit-growers are persevering; they have overcome 
difficulties in other branches of the industry. Have we not every 
good reason to believe that they will be equally successful in the 
development of the olive business? We have not only our own 
inarket open to us, but there are also other countries where the 
charmed name California will cause the gates to be opened wide 
to admit this great health food from our sunny clime. 



VITICULTURE IN CALIFORNIA. 85 



VITICULTURE IN CALIFORNIA. 



By CHARLES BUNDSCHU. 



Few countries or subdivisions of countries are more lavishly 
endowed by nature than the State of California. Its great pos- 
sibilities are manifested in all its various agricultural products, 
but they are particularly demonstrated in its viticultural propen- 
sities when compared with the limited demarcations of other wine- 
producing countries. In its vast expanse of about 750 miles along 
the Pacific Ocean, with an average width of 200 miles; with its 
irregular divisions and innumerable valleys and elevations; with 
isothermal lines inclining, contrary to the general rule, in a 
northerly and southerly direction, the geographical and topo- 
graphical exposition of California embraces such a diversity of 
climatic conditions that grape culture may be successfully di- 
rected over a vast area within its borders for vinicultural purposes. 

In a general way California has already demonstrated and classi- 
fied, by energetic experiments and by subsequent experiences cover- 
ing half a century, the leading characteristics and some of the 
preferable locations, exposures and soils on hillsides and in valleys. 
Still new districts are being continuously disclosed and the im- 
mense possibilities of California as a viticultural miracle are bound 
to attract the attention of the entire world. The long stretch of 
the coast counties, from Lake down to San Luis Obispo (embrac- 
ing Sonoma, Napa, Yolo, Solano, Contra Costa, Alameda, San 
Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz) has evidenced for years its spe- 
cial fitness for the production of the most delicious and exquisite 
types of dry table wines. Under the influence of the cosmopolitan 
experience of some of the foreign-born viticulturists the selection 
of vine-stocks includes the best assortment of the most successful 
wine districts in the world. Every noted variety of wine grapes 
belonging to the famous order of the Vitis vinifera class has been 
introduced and propagated in California. Thereby most remark- 
able results have been attained in the production of the highest 
types of dry wines in the northern districts. In all the coast and 
bay counties the prevalence of sufficient moisture in the atmos- 
phere during the summer months favors a uniform ripening pro- 
cess of the grape. The management of the vineyard estates is 
rational and more expensive than in the valley districts, especially 
where the finest varieties of Rhenish, Burgundy, Medoc and Sau- 
terne types require high staking and intelligent pruning. 

The great valleys of the Sacramento and the San Joaquin, and 
south of Tehachapi, reaching out in almost endless stretches be- 
tween the Coast Range and the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, are 
the great sweet wine and brandy (and at the same time raisin) 



86 



CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 



emporiums of the Golden State. From Tehama, Colusa, Sacra- 
mento, Yolo, down to Merced, Fresno, Kings, Tulare, Los Angeles 
and San Bernardino, the generous, rich and full-bodied types are 
being produced with remarkable success, challenging the famous 
types of the Old World into fair comparison. Wines with the full 
characteristics, flavor and aroma of Port, Malaga, Muscatel, Ma- 
deira and even Sherry (this most distinctive and precious type of 
wine) are ripened here and brought to a high degree of perfection. 
Nature provides the foundation for magnificent results. As- 
sisted by irrigation in the overheated valley districts, and supple- 
mented by judicious fertilizing where the soil has been overtaxed 
and exhausted, she readily yields to laudable efforts to produce 
"wine that maketh glad the heart of man," wine that promotes 
and develops the instinct of true temperance, because wine, cul- 




PKUNING THE VINES. 

ture, refinement, sobriety and good cheer always stand together 
and are affiliated against alcoholism. 

It may be a matter of regret and justifiable criticism that wine- 
producers and wine-merchants in California have not as yet suc- 
cessfully developed and adapted a specific original nomenclature 
for the designation of their products, and that they still cling to 
the classification of California Burgundy, Sauterne, Riesling, 
Chablis, Port, Sherry, Malaga, Maderia, etc. The reason for this 
may be explained, principally by commercial usage and trade con- 
ditions established all over the world, and by other natural cir- 
cumstances. The vintner, deriving his product from a special 
Rhenish, French or Spanish grape, aims at the perfection of this 
vintage in this particular direction. Lacking any other appella- 
tion (which the simple name of his vineyard location would not 
intelligently supply) he adopts a standard designation familiar 
to the trade and to the consumer alike. This may change some- 
what in time. More progress will be made; special locations and 
proprietors will become better known and their products more in- 
dividually appreciated. The Old World, however, has established 
and accepted certain denominations for certain types. As long as 
the characteristics of the California vintages are analogous it will 



VITICULTURE IN CALIFORNIA. 87 

be difficult to eradicate the once established designation of "Cali- 
fornia Burgundy, Port, Sherry or Sauterne," except, perhaps, by 
supplanting it with Sonoma or Napa Burgundy, Fresno or Los 
Angeles Port, Livermore Sauterne, etc. 

The leading varieties of grapes cultivated in the dry-wine dis- 
tricts as the principal foundation of "Zinfandel," consist in a 
prolific, full-bearing red wine grape with a fully developed, fruity 
flavor and pronounced acidity (possibly originating from the 
Austrian variety "Zierfahndler") ; however, all the progressive 
vineyards are supplemented by Malvoisie, Mataro, Grenache, 
Carignan, Mondeuse, Malbec, St. Macaire, Valdepenas, various 
specialties of Burgundy and Pinot, Gamay, Trousseau, Beclan, 
Bouchet, Cabernet, etc. The leading white-wine stock includes 
the Burger, various kinds of Chasselas, Gutedel, several species of 
Riesling, Traminer, Semillon, Sauvignon, Marsanne, Colombar, 
Folle Blanche, some varieties of Muscatel, Tokay and many others, 
whose vocabulary has often been slightly corrupted into dialectical 
uncertainties. 

According to assessors' returns the area planted to grapes in 
the year 1902 covered 118,209 acres for wine grapes, 89,792 acres 
for raisin grapes, 22,674 acres for table grapes; a total of 230,675 
acres, to which an increase of 15 per cent may easily be added 
up to date. 

The investments in the State of California in vineyards, cellars 
and plants, cooperage, general installations, and stocks of wines 
carried for trade purposes, may fairly be estimated to cover nearly 
one hundred million dollars. 

The ravages of the phylloxera and of the so-called "Anaheim 
vine-pest" have been gradually equalized by replanting on re- 
sistant stock and by the reopening of new districts. The vine- 
yardists hail with satisfaction the interest shown by the United 
States Department of Agriculture in fostering expert investigation 
and by the establishment of federal experiment stations of viticul- 
ture in California. 

The statistical data obtainable as to the total wine production 
of the State are not always fully reliable. However, the following 
figures give a fair illustration of our progressive development: 

Year. Wine. 

1864 2,000,000 gallons 

1874 4,000,000 

1884 11,000,000 

1894 18,000,000 

1902 43,000,000 

1903 32,000,000 

The yield of 1902 was one of the most prolific in the history 
of the country, while the vintage of 1903 was about 25 per cent 
less, but of superior quality. 

Since the United States government concedes and controls the 
free use of grape spirit for fortification purposes, a considerable 
amount of the grape product is distilled into brandy, to be turned 





Brandy. 


Ions 


20,000 gallons 


«( 


297,000 


<( 


383,000 


«( 


1,754,000 


ti 


3.564,000 


t^ 


5,776,000 



88 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

back again into sweet wines for vinifieation. No grain spirits can 

be utilized for this manipulation. 

The official returns of the sweet wine product for 1903 are as 

follows : 

Port 7,261,100 gallons 

Sherry 4,639,300 

Angelica 968,700 

Muscat and Malaga 773,700 

Total 13,642,800 

Against 14,590,900 gallons in 1902 and 8,503,900 gallons in 1901. 

Efforts to increase home consumption of the pure wines of Cali- 
fornia should be intelligently extended. Too rigid concentration 
and control of the product may curtail the effectiveness of dis- 
tribution. Wise and judicious national legislation, protecting the 
absolute purity of American wines, checking unwholesome adul- 
terations of our domestic as well as imported wines, providing 
methods of branding and labeling under true names and classi- 
fications, eliminating sophistication and imitation of brands— all 
this will have a beneficial influence toward creating public confi- 
dence and increasing the consumption. Clipping, for illustration, 
from statistical reports, we find the home consumption of wine in 
other wine-producing countries per head and per annum as 
follows: In France, 25.40 gallons, equal to 126 bottles; in Italy, 
20.50 gallons, equal to 102 bottles; in Spain, 17.50 gallons, equal 
to 87 bottles; while in the United States, 0.31 of a gallon only is 
used, equaling 1% bottles per head per year. 

The area planted to vineyards in France amounts to 4,250,000 
acres, and the yield of the vintage 1903 amounted to 938,000,000 
gallons. In addition, France imports 159,000,000 gallons from 
other countries, and exports only 48,000,000 gallons; so the home 
consumption of the French population reaches yearly over one 
billion gallons of wine. 

In this connection may be mentioned the praiseworthy efforts of 
the California Grape Acid Association, offering generous co-opera- 
tion to the grape-growers of the entire State with a view to the 
possible diversion of the surplus of an extraordinary grape crop 
into new channels of usefulness, thus curtailing the dangers of 
overproduction. Their generous offer of $25,000 reward for a 
simple and profitable method of turning grape sugar into commer- 
cial grape acid has attracted the attention of many scientists in 
Europe and elicited many new suggestions on the value and useful- 
ness of the grape as a food product. 

A great deal of good, progressive and substantial work has 
been already accomplished in California. The installation of wine- 
making establishments is on the lines of modern technically im- 
proved systems, facilitating the handling of grapes, musts and 
wines on a large scale. 

San Francisco, the greatest distributing and shipping center 
for viticultural products, has some of the best appointed wine 
storage-vaults in the world. Some of the leading plants represent 



RAISIN-GROWING IN CALIFORNIA. 89 

many million gallons under one roof. Large oval casks, of Ameri- 
can oak and of from 3,000 to 10,000 gallons capacity, form the 
equipment. A few of them exceed even the famous "tun of 
Heidelberg" in capacity. 

The receipts at San Francisco from interior vineyards and 
cellars during 1903 amounted to 16,262,000 gallons of wine and 
514,000 gallons of brandy, while the shipments from San Fran- 
cisco by rail and sea for the fiscal year ending July, 1903, aggre- 
gated 17,054,000 gallons and 55,748 cases of wine and brandy, 
most of it to American shipping points, although the trade of 
Central and South America, Mexico, the Orient and Europe ab- 
sorbed 2,500,000 gallons, with a continuous healthy advance. Next 
to San Francisco the city of Los Angeles is the important* shipping 
point for sweet wines and brandies, while other California wine 
centers, such as Fresno, Stoclrton, Sacramento, St. Helena, Sonoma, 
Santa Rosa, Asti, Cloverdale, etc., are also furnishing their pro- 
portionate shares for direct transcontinental rail transportation 
to Eastern distributing points. 

In conclusion, it might be stated that we may well be satisfied 
with the result of the pioneer work of the first half-century of 
California viticulture. May it never be forgotten that the unques- 
tioned purity of the juice of the grape, the honesty and integrity 
of wine-maker and wine-merchant, are the only dominant and 
potent factors for ultimate success in this one of California's 
greatest industries. We are proud to proclaim to the world that 
these conditions exist in our State, and we are gratified to have 
an opportunity to demonstrate at the "World's Fair in St. Louis, 
at our "Louisiana Purchase Exposition" of 1904, in the accumu- 
lated form of a joint state exhibit, the achievements of the har- 
monious, progressive spirit of viticulture in California. 



RAISIN^GROWING IN CALIFORNIA. 



By D. D. ALLISON. 

Treasurer of California Raisin-Growers' Association. 



In this article it is not the intention to give extended statistical 
information, but more particularly such data as are likely to in- 
terest intending settlers who may desire to engage in the viticul- 
tural business (the production of raisin grapes in particular). 

The total bearing acreage in Muscatel and Muscat of Alexandria 
vines in California approximates 70,000 ; and vineyards are being 
set out every year. 

Previous to the year 1898 growers would haul their raisins to 
independent packing-houses, and have them consigned through 



90 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

the packer to be sold on commission. This plan became so unsatis- 
factory to the producers of raisins that they organized under the 
title of "The California Raisin-Growers' Association." 

Under this plan all raisins delivered to the association are 
packed under the supervision and control of a board of five 
directors, who are elected by ballot at each annual meeting, each 
member being entitled to but one vote, irrespective of the num- 
ber of acres he may own or control, by that means preventing 
the control of the association concentrating in the hands of a few 
large growers. 

It is admitted by all concerned that the formation of the asso- 
ciation was the means of firmly establishing this great industry. 
After the* initial years of unsuccessful labor and investment the 
industry has become profitable and satisfactory, and it is the 
opinion of the writer, and of others better able to judge, that there 
is no danger of any permanent overproduction. 

It is not to be presumed that advertising is advocated for the 
purpose of calling attention to the fact that the raisin is a food 
article, or that, as a food article, it is superior to other cured 
fruits. The old custom of the housekeeper, restaurant or hotel 
proprietor purchasing whole raisins to be used by the culinary 
and pastry cook has become obsolete. In its place there is now 
what is known as the California seeded raisin. 

During the latter part of August or the beginning of September 
raisin grapes are generally ripe enough to be picked. Picking 
usually commences when the sugar test registers twenty-four 
per cent by the saccharometer. Having satisfied himself on that 
important point the vineyardist makes arrangements for the pickers. 
The pickers take two rows of vines apiece for convenience, and, 
in a squatting position, with a small knife they dexterously sever 
each bunch of grapes from the vine, laying it carefully on the tray, 
placing all the stems in the same direction. After the picking is 
finished the trays of grapes are left between the rows of vines to be 
dried by the sun, and herein lies the particular advantage of that 
section of the San Joaquin valley composed of the counties of 
Fresno, Kings, Madera and Tulare. In order to successfully 
evaporate the moisture contained in the grape when picked it is 
necessary for the fruit to be exposed to as dry a heat as possible. 
In the counties mentioned above, situate in the heart of the San 
Joaquin valley, the sky is cloudless the greater part of the year, and 
the humidity is at a minimum. The United States Weather Bureau 
records show as low a percentage of humidity as six per cent. Such 
a low percentage is almost unheard of in any other portion of the 
globe, which is the reason why the excessively high temperature does 
not affect human health or comfort. In this locality, when the 
temperature registers 110 degrees, which it occasionally does during 
an excessively hot wave, the effect is not at all similar to that pro- 
duced by the hot waves so often experienced in the states east of the 
Rockv mountains. Sunstrokes or prostrations from heat are 
entirely unknown, and no matter how hot the hours of sunlight may 



RAISIN-GEOWING IN CALIFORNIA. 91 

be, it rarely happens that a refreshing cool breeze fails to blow 
throughout the night. 

The average time required to dry the crop is about three weeks. 
The grapes are left on the trays for about fifteen days (accord- 
ing to the degree of temperature) , and then turned by placing an 
empty tray on top of a full one, and by a dexterous turn revers- 
ing them, leaving the grapes with the undried side exposed to the 
sun. They are allowed to remain in this position until dried, usu- 
ally taking six or eight days. The trays are then stacked in piles 
of from twenty to thirty, where they are left to go through what is 
termed the sweating process. After a few days the raisins are 
ready to be transferred to the sweat-boxes, generally holding about 
one hundred and forty pounds to a box, and then hauled to the 
nearest packing-house to be stemmed. 

Arriving at the packing-house the raisins are weighed, and are 
thence trucked to the stemming machine, where the stems are 
separated from the raisins; the latter being carried by an endless 
belt and run over different sized screens, which grade them in 
sizes. They then run through spouts into boxes, holding fifty 
pounds each. If to be shipped as loose raisins, the boxes are 
immediately nailed up ready for shipment. If to be placed on the 
market in the form of seeded raisins, they are transferred to the 
seeding plant (although only a recent invention, no packing- 
house is now considered complete without such a plant), where 
they are placed in a drier, and all moisture thoroughly evaporated.. 
It is necessary to have them perfectly dry and brittle in order to 
remove the capstem from the end of each raisin, and also remove 
every particle of dirt or dust. From this machine they are trans- 
ferred to the steaming-house, where they are made pliable with 
steam so that the seeds may be removed without any unnecessary 
tearing or bruising of the berry. They are now transferred to 
the seeding-machine proper, where they are run between rubber 
rollers and carried under a row of miniature saws and punctured, 
and the seeds forced out by another mechanical appliance. Con- 
tinuing on their journey, they arrive at the packing table, where 
they are packed in cartons weighing one pound each, thirty-six 
cartons being placed in each commercial case, in which condition 
they are ready for the market. It is only seven years since the 
seeding of raisins was first successfully accomplished, 300 tons 
being placed on the market in that year ; whereas, in the year 1902, 
there was shipped from the seeding plants of Fresno alone a total of 
22,000 tons. Such is a brief explanation of the manner in which 
seeded raisins are prepared for market. 

We will now return to the vineyard, where the men are busily 
engaged in transferring the raisins from the trays to the sweat- 
boxes. It is generally profitable to pay the pickers an extra 
charge for sorting from the trays all large and fancy bunches, 
called clusters and layers, into separate boxes. These bunches are 
put up in fancy brands, viz, Imperial, Dehesa and Fancy Clusters 
and three- and two-crown London Layers, according to quality 



92 



CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 



or grade. For the finest clusters the vineyardist will generally 
receive two or three times as much as for the ordinary loose raisins. 
Since the introduction of seeded raisins the demand for the lower 
grades of layer raisins has diminished. 

In addition to the grapes that are picked and converted into 
raisins there is usually what is termed the second crop, which 
ripens about a month later than the first crop on the same vines. 
This crop is seldom made into raisins, the bulk of it going to the 
wineries to be converted into grape brandy and for which usually 
a fair price is paid, frequently netting sufficient to pay for the 
curing of the first crop. 

The work of harvesting the crop, etc., is usually completed by 
the first to the tenth of November, and you can then occupy your 




PICKING AND CUBING RAISINS. 



time as you desire until the following early spring, as there is 
little of importance to do until the time for pruning arrives, which 
is usually the latter part of January or the beginning of February. 
The difference in the appearance of a California raisin vine- 
yard before and after pruning is remarkable; for, whereas, prior 
to the foliage dropping, the canes usually reach six and eight feet 
from the body of the vine, making the vineyard almost a solid 
mass of green, after pruning the vineyard has the appearance of 
a field of dried-up stumps. On each vine has been left a few spurs, 
about two inches long, all the balance of the wood or canes having 
been cut away. It is hard for a stranger to realize that a field of 
apparently dry stumps can produce the crop of grapes in so short 
a space of time as they do in California. 



RAISIN-GKOWIXG IN CALIFORNIA. 



93 



After the priming of the vines and burning of the brush are 
finished, plowing and cross-plowing are commenced, and then a 
thorough cultivation, leaving the vineyards in as finely pulverized 
and mellow condition as possible. Hoeing around the base of the 
vine, where the plow and cultivator can not reach, is then done, 
and next the suckers that have started are pulled oft'. If the vine- 
yard is well taken care of and in a healthy condition there is 
little more to do until it is time to pick, except an occasional culti- 
vation for the purpose of keeping the soil mellow and of checking 
any new growth of weeds that may start where the ground is un- 
usually moist. 

For the benefit of those who are not familiar with the principal 
raisin sections of California it may prove interesting, and even a 




STEMMING AND PACKING EAISIXS. 



surprise, that the average rainfall is less than ten inches per year. 
The rainfall during the ten months ending March 1, 1904, was only 
four inches; and yet, vineyardists did not worry, for, so long as 
nature stores its water supply on the summit of the mountains in the 
form of snow, they realize that there is no occasion for alarm. 

Prior to the year 1875 the vicinity in which this article is written 
was a desert the greater part of the year; the pasturing of sheep 
and cattle for three or four months of the winter and spring being 
the only use to which it was put. It was not until irrigation was 
adopted that the wonderful fertility of the soil became known. 
Then was commenced that stupendous system of irrigation which 
has been the marvel and admiration of the world, and which has 
transformed a waste into an amazingly fruitful region. 



94 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

Previous to the inauguration of irrigation one would have to sink 
a well from forty to sixty feet before striking water, whereas, at the 
present time water can be found a few feet from the surface, the 
soil having become saturated with the seepage from the many irri- 
gation ditches. 

It is not the intention nor the desire of the writer to convey 
the impression that, having secured a tract of land for a vine- 
yard, or having purchased one already planted, responsibility and 
care cease. On the contrary, it requires energy, attention, intelli- 
gence and patience to make an investment in a raisin vineyard 
profitable. Nature does a great deal for the tiller of the soil in 
California, but to reap satisfactory returns from an investment in 
her lands close attention must be devoted to every detail. 

To the intending settler the writer will offer the following ad- 
vice — and it is for those of limited means that this article is more 
particularly intended: Do not be in too great hurry to invest; 
take time to investigate the adaptability of the soil to your re- 
quirements. Be patient, and endeavor to gather information from 
those having practical knowledge in the particular branch which 
you intend to follow. If your means are limited, and you do not 
feel above gaining knowledge from practical experience, make up 
your mind to work on a vineyard for a time. You will thus not 
only gain a knowledge of the method of caring for a vineyard, 
but you will discover that the men with whom you come in contact 
in the ranks of hired help are sometimes better informed as to the 
matters which you desire to know than are some of the men who 
own thousands of acres. 

As already stated, the estimated number of acres planted to 
the raisin grape in the State of California is 70,000. They are 
owned by about three thousand individuals. In this estimate there 
is to be considered a large number of landowners who follow diver- 
sified farming. 

The price of land in its natural condition varies according to 
location and quality. Land located near a town is naturally con- 
sidered of more value than that at a distance, although the net 
returns may be less; and to an intending purchaser for agricul- 
tural purposes of any description, considering the usual difference 
in price, unless amply provided with means and not entirely de- 
pendent upon the returns of your investment, it would be advis- 
able to purchase a similar quality of land at a less price per acre 
farther removed from town. Unimproved land suitable for vine- 
yard purposes can be secured for from $40 to $100 per acre. After 
properly preparing the land and planting the vines it usually 
takes from three to four years for profitable returns ; but by plant- 
ing the vineyard by degrees and practicing diversified farming, a 
person can realize reasonable returns right along until the vines 
come into bearing. 

The best guide for a stranger as to whether a particular locality 
is prosperous is to note the condition of its public buildings, 
school houses, churches, banks, public library; its streets, street- 



RAISIN-GROWING IN CALIFORNIA. 95 

car service, railroad facilities, and its residences; and in driving 
through the surrounding country note if the school facilities are 
ample, and if the houses are neat and attractive; also, if the gen- 
eral surroundings have an air of thrift. If, upon taking note of 
these points you form a favorable opinion, you may conclude that 
it is a safe section in which to invest and to make your future 
home. 

In the San Joaquin valley are to be found vineyards of from five 
to one thousand acres, in the highest state of cultivation, without 
a weed in sight and every row of vines in perfect alignment and 
every plant of uniform size, giving one the impression that it is an 
immense garden instead of fruit fields maintained for profit. 
"Whether of large or small acreage you will invariably find the vine- 
yards and orchards equally well taken care of in every particular. 

Some who read this article may have had their attention called 
to some particular instance of phenomenal yield that has been 
published through the newspapers. Such articles are oftentimes 
misleading. The writer of this article can quote like instances 
that would hardly be credited, yet which, notwithstanding they 
would be absolutely true, would be entirely misleading. 

This article has not been written for the purpose of booming 
any location or section of California, nor to advertise any tract 
of land. On the contrary, it has been written for the sole purpose 
of giving reliable and trustworthy information to intending set- 
tlers, those who from choice may desire to engage in the raisin 
industry— the same advice that the writer would desire should he 
be looking up the advantages of a place with which he is not fa- 
miliar. It needs no exaggeration of facts to sing the praises of 
the productiveness of California's soil. 

In conclusion, the writer will take the liberty of quoting from 
the Pacific Rural Press, published in the city of San Francisco, 
an answer to several questions propounded to the editor by one 
who signs himself "Minneapolis Skeptic": 

"If the distant reader gets the idea that he, without any knowl- 
edge or experience, and perhaps without intending to do anything 
himself but to sit in the shade, can get out of the place every year 
as much as the outfit costs him, he had better bear the ills he has. 
If he comes, however, intending to apply ordinary business sense 
and energy, and expecting to receive a good return for his invest- 
ment and labor, he is pretty sure to realize it— unless he is handi- 
capped by a mistake in the beginning, such as may be made in 
buying poor land or planting the wrong fruit, or something of 
that kind. If Eastern people will read advertising matter like 
business men, and not stick their fingers in the fire like children 
and then cry at the sight of the flame, they will make better 
Calif ornians and learn to appreciate the many advantages that 
the Creator has placed within the reach of those who live in the 
State of California." 



96 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 



THE FIG IN CALIFORNIA. 



By GEORGE C. ROEDING, 
Chief of the Department of Horticulture. 



No fruit has appealed more to the horticulturist than the fig. It 
is easy of culture, adapting itself to a variety of soils, and the 
expense of harvesting is very light as compared with many other 
fruits. Naturally the great desire of growers of figs is to produce 
a fruit equal in flavor to the far-famed Smyrna variety from Asia 
Minor. 

In the year 1880 the San Francisco Bulletin Company, backed 
by the late Senator Leland Stanford, made the first importation 
of fig cuttings from Asia Minor, and a few years later another 
shipment was made. These trees were distributed to subscribers 
of the Bulletin throughout the State. When the trees were old 
enough to bear, the fruit, after attaining the size of a marble, 
shriveled and dropped. Those who planted the trees concluded 
that they had been duped. Many of the trees were dug up and de- 
stroyed in consequence, although isolated specimens are still to be 
found, the largest number being on the Vina Ranch, belonging to 
the Stanford Estate. These trees were planted in out-of-the-way 
places and have received little or no care. The wily Smyrnaites 
evidently did all they could to prevent cuttings of the genuine 
commercial variety being exported, for the trees growing at Vina 
are badly mixed, consisting of a number of varieties. There are 
a few of the genuine commercial figs growing there, but they are 
the exception rather than the rule. 

The next variety to attract attention was the White Adriatic, a 
Dalmatian sort, and it was extensively planted from 1884 to 1890. 
When the trees came into bearing and the fruit was found to be 
inferior to the imported figs, no matter how processed, growers 
concluded that Smyrna figs could not be grown here, conditions 
apparently not being favorable for their successful culture. Never- 
theless, quite an extensive business was built up in Adriatic figs. 
The shipments are in the neighborhood of 2,500 tons annually. 
The jobbing trade in the Eastern States regarded California figs 
as a joke, and it was the consensus of .opinion that California 
would never succeed in placing on the market a fig equal in flavor 
to the imported. 

In the year 1885 F. Roeding, of the Pancher Creek Nurseries 
of Fresno, having come to the conclusion that none of the figs 
grown in California were of the same variety as the fig of com- 
merce, decided to send his foreman to Smyrna to make a personal 
investigation and to secure cuttings of the very best varieties. 
After remaining a year in the nursery the first orchard, consist- 



THE PIG IN CALIFORNIA. 97 

ing of twenty acres, was planted in 1887 from these cuttings. In 
addition to this, there were planted about forty caprifig trees. 

The tree producing the caprifigs is necessary for the production 
of the Smyrna fig. "Without caprifigs Smyrna figs can not be pro- 
duced. It is in this one respect that the Smyrna type of figs 
differs from all others; for unless the female flowers of this fig 
are fertilized by the pollen of the caprifigs, the fruit shrivels and 
drops when one-third grown. In other varieties of fruits in which 
the flowers are exposed any ordinary insect can convey the pollen 
from the male to the female; but in the fig, all the flowers are in- 
closed, and it is only through the agency of a little wasp-like insect 
which makes its home in the caprifig that the pollination of the 
flowers of the edible fig can take place. The caprifig trees produce 
a succession of crops during the season, and for every crop of figs 
there is a new generation of insects. 

The first caprifigs make their appearance in March, as soon as 
the new growth starts on the trees. These figs are in the recep- 
tive stage in the latter part of April. The female wasp, which is 
winged, enters this fig at this time and deposits her eggs in the 
gall flower, as it is called, and then perishes in the fig to which it 
has entrusted its offspring. This fig reaches maturity in the early 
part of June, and at this time the male, or staminate, blossoms are 
mature and covered with pollen. There are both male and female 
wasps, each doing its share in carrying on the work to a success- 
ful completion. The male wasp issues first from the galls, crawls 
(it is wingless) around in the fig, locates the galls in which the 
females lie^ cuts into them with its powerful mandibles, and im- 
pregnates the female. The female enlarges the opening made by 
the male, crawls out of the gall, and then passes through the orifice 
of the caprifig, which is then large enough to admit of an easy 
exit. In leaving the fig its body and wings become covered with 
pollen from the male flowers, which occupy a zone in the fruit im- 
mediately surrounding this opening. This is one of the most in- 
teresting phases in connection with the growing of Smyrna figs. 
The caprifigs at this time are plucked from the trees, threaded on 
reeds or raffia fiber, and suspended in the Smyrna fig trees. The 
female flowers of the Smyrna fig are in the -receptive stage at this 
time, and the little wasp forces its way through the almost closed 
orifice of the fig, in many cases breaking off its wings in its eager- 
ness to make an entrance. It crawls around in the fig, passing 
over the numerous female flowers, trying to find a place to deposit 
its eggs. The flowers are so constructed that it can not do so. 
The insect, although prevented from carrying out its object, proves 
a benefit to mankind, for every fig entered matures into a luscious 
fruit, with fertile seeds. A few days after an insect has entered, 
the fig commences to develop and expand, assuming a bright, 
healthy and vigorous appearance, while the figs which the insect 
has not penetrated have a sickly, yellowish-green color, and soon 
drop to the ground. The insect, after performing its function, 
leaves the fig and dies. 



98 



CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 



The question now arises as to the manner in which the insect 
perpetuates its species. All of the caprifigs are not picked from 
the wild or male trees, as they are often designated. A few of 
the late maturing ones of this crop are allowed to remain, and 
from these the female insect issues and passes into the new crop 
of figs appearing on the same tree. Here it deposits its eggs in 
the gall flowers, and thus provides for a new generation of wasps. 
When this crop is mature, which usually takes six weeks, another 
crop of figs appears on the wild fig trees, which the insect enters. 
The final crop, which makes its appearance the latter part of 
September, remains on the trees all the winter, the insect remain- 
ing in this crop in the larva form until the spring crop, already 




PACKING FIGS. 

referred to, commences to develop. This, then, briefly describes 
the life history of this wonderful little insect, around which the 
success of a great and important industry centers. 

The only season in the year in which the caprifigs are dis- 
tributed in the Smyrna fig trees is in the month of June. Two 
or three distributions are made at this time, at a cost, even in an 
old orchard of ten to fourteen years, not exceeding $1 per acre. 
From six to ten figs are placed in a tree at each distribution of 
the caprifigs, the number varying according to the size of the tree. 
Each caprifig contains from three hundred to one thousand insects. 

The Smyrna figs commence to ripen from the middle to the latter 
part of August, and continue until October 1st. The fact that 
these figs do not all mature at the same time is a very important 



THE FIG IN CALIFORNIA. 99 

feature and one which will appeal to every fruit-grower. It 
means that a very large crop of fruit can be harvested with a small 
force of men, or even children, at a minimum expense. These figs 
must not be picked from the trees, but allowed to drop to the 
ground of their own accord. This they will not do until they have 
shriveled and lost their form. Occasionally a fig will be seen 
which does not drop readily. A slight jar to the tree, or tapping 
the fig with a light bamboo pole, will cause it to fall. The figs are 
gathered in small buckets, and later are taken to the drying 
ground in picking-boxes. Before placing the figs on the trays they 
are immersed for half a minute in a boiling hot brine contain- 
ing about three ounces of salt to the gallon of water. After a 
few days' exposure to the sun they are taken to a room sealed 
tight with tongue-and-grooved lumber, and placed in a large 
pile. Here they remain for ten days, being turned occasionally. 
This sweating, as it is termed, equalizes the amount of moisture in 
the fruit; overdried figs absorbing moisture from those which are 
too wet, and vice versa. Before the figs are taken to the packing- 
house they are washed in a weak cold brine; the overdried figs, 
called floaters, are removed as they float to the top, and the others 
are given a good rubbing between the hands. This removes the 
dirt which may have gathered on them in the course of drying. 
After exposure to the sun for a half-day, to allow the superfluous 
moisture to evaporate, they are dumped into boxes and hauled to 
the packing-house. 

The packing is done by women and girls. Every effort is made 
to have the fruit in the best of condition and perfectly clean. 
Just prior to being taken to the packing-table the figs are given 
a steam bath. This cleanses them thoroughly and heats the fruit 
through, and should any insect have laid its egg in the fruit dur- 
ing the course of drying, the germ is destroyed. No such care is 
exercised by either the growers or packers in Smyrna, and in 
consequence the imported figs are sometimes not only wormy, but 
dirty as well, due to the crude manner of handling. The figs are 
packed in pound and half-pound paper cartons, which are in turn 
packed in wooden boxes holding ten pounds each. So much for 
our method. Contrast it with the method followed in Smyrna. 

There tl e figs are dried on rushes, on an open place 
The Fig in in the orchard where a few trees have died. When 
Smyrna, sufficiently dried the fruit is dumped on the ground 

in any convenient old shed and allowed to remain 
until enough has accumulated, when it is gathered in horsehair 
sacks holding about two hundred pounds each. These sacks are 
very strong and quite expensive, and are very desirable for the 
transportation of figs, for they have no lint like burlap sacks. 
These figs are carried on the backs of camels to the nearest rail- 
road station, a camel-load being two such sacks. A camel train 
usually consists of from six to ten camels. It is quite a novel sight 
to see these ungainly creatures shambling along with their big 
loads, the earavaneer riding in the lead on a small donkey, perched 



100 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

high on a peculiarly elevated and ungainly saddle. During the 
season the Ottoman railway, which traverses the entire fig district, 
sends trains daily from the most important points in the Meander 
valley, and it is no uncommon occurrence to have from 1,500 to 
2,000 tons of figs delivered in Smyrna in a single day. All of the 
fig-packing is carried on in Smyrna, a city of 400,000 inhabitants 
and located on the coast about forty miles from the fig districts. 
The figs, on reaching Smyrna, are again conveyed on the backs of 
camels to the fig bazaar, or to the packing-houses if they have been 
sold to any particular packer. They are dumped on the floor in 
immense masses about three feet deep. Before packing the figs 
are sorted into sizes and suppled by women and girls, who receive 
fifteen to twenty cents a day. The packing is done entirely by 
men. Neither men nor women are any too clean about their per- 
son. A Smyrnaite never eats packed figs. You ask him why, 
and a shrug of the shoulders is your answer. The only time water 
touches the figs is when the packers moisten their fingers in the 
sea water, which is hauled in hogsheads from the quay, into which 
all the sewers of Smyrna empty. 

It is a well-known fact that all imported figs are wormy. Most 
of the worms leave them while they are in transit, and it is rare 
that the consumer sees any of the worms in the figs he is eating. 
It is generally supposed by the packers of Smyrna that this worm 
is a natural product of the fig, resulting from an egg laid by the 
fig wasp. However, this is entirely incorrect, for the worm 
comes from an insect laying its eggs in the fruit during the 
process of drying. 

To produce a good article is always a source of satis- 
Commer- faction, but there must be another incentive. The 
eial Value industry must be profitable. No business can succeed 
of Figs. or make any advance unless it pays. The question 
arises. Will fig-growing in California pay? True, we 
must compete with the cheap labor of Europe, but this has been 
the fact in other branches of fruit-growing. We are competing 
in many branches, and our fruit sells in competition with the best 
that is produced in the Old World. Although our wages are much 
higher it must be remembered that our help is more efficient, and 
this, combined with the advanced methods of handling, places us 
in a position to compete in figs as well as in other fruit. 

It has been demonstrated that Adriatic figs at three cents a 
pound are more profitable than raisins at five cents. Smyrna figs 
can be raised fully as cheap as Adriatic figs, the only additional 
expense being caprification ; but as this does not cost over two 
cents a tree at the very outside, it is a matter not worthy of con- 
sideration. It is safe to assume that Smyrna figs, even when pro- 
duced in large quantities, will never bring less than three cents 
per pound, and for many years to come five cents per pound will 
be a more likely average. No class of dried fruit outside of the 
fig possesses so many dietary qualities, and with a good article on 
the market, there is an unlimited field for expansion. With the 



THE FIG IN CAUFORNIA. 101 

figs which were being marketed from this State prior to the suc- 
cessful establishment of the Smyrna fig industry there was no hope 
for the future. It is now conceded that this trouble was due to 
our not having the right variety and to no other cause. It does 
not indicate, because a fig is of the Smyrna type, that it neces- 
sarily is the variety for drying, any more than that one of our 
June peaches is a good drying or canning peach. Thus far there 
has only been one variety of any value for drying purposes, and 
this has been designated as the "Calimyrna." This is the identical 
variety grown in Smyrna under the name of "Lop Injir," which 
is the only fig used for export. The name "Calimyrna" is copy- 
righted, and is a contraction of the two words "California" and 
"Smyrna." The name Calimyrna has already made its impres- 
sion on the trade, and is recognized as the only fig grown in Cali- 
fornia worthy of being classed as a true commercial product. 

There are thousands of acres of land in California, 
in the interior valleys, in which this fig can be grown 
Fig- Land m successfully and profitably. True, the fig will grow 
taiiiornia. ^^^ place in the State where the temperature does not 
go below eighteen degrees Fahrenheit. As a commer- 
cial proposition it must have a dry, warm climate during the sum- 
mer months, and it will therefore always find its most congenial 
location in the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys, and in the 
foothills where such conditions exist. The trees will grow on 
either wet or dry soils, but a deep, warm soil with good drainage 
will always produce the best fruit. No orchard can be raised with 
so small an expense as a fig. Good cultivation is of course impor- 
tant, but outside of this and irrigation, the other expenses are 
very light. Pruning is a small item ; no spraying is necessary, for 
the trees are never subject to attack by insect pests. 

The importation of figs into the United States amounts to over 
$800,000 annually. This alone demonstrates that there is an open- 
ing for the development of this industry. There is no fruit which 
can be put to such a variety of uses as the fig, and the demand for 
this fruit canned or preserved has never been satisfied, even with 
the ordinary figs. 



102 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 



THE FORESTS OF CALIFORNIA. 



bt w. h. mills, 

Chief of the Department of Forestry. 



The following sketch of the forests of California is intended as 
an introduction to the classified forest exhibit of California made 
in the Department of Forestry. 

At best, a forestry exhibit is an exhibition of specimens of 
wood. Paramount consideration may be given to the botanical or 
scientific aspect of the forests of a country, or the commercial 
significance of these forests may be illustrated. But whatever the 
paramount motive for the exhibition may be, no exhibit which 
would adequately represent the forested condition of a country 
can be made in the space allotted to such exhibits in expositions. 

A forest covering a hundred thousand acres of land might con- 
tain a variety of tree growth as great as one containing as many 
millions of acres. The same commercial woods might be found in 
a very limited forest area as in one covering millions of acres. 

The California Forestry Exhibit is distinctively commercial in 
its motive and aspect. The scientific or botanical exhibit might 
have been combined with this, but such an exhibit would have re- 
quired a very large space for its display and many years for its 
collection. That no complete scientific exhibit of the forests of 
any country has ever been made is a justifiable assertion. Ger- 
many, where the science of forestry has attained its ripest stage, 
notwithstanding the appearance of that empire in all the great 
world's expositions, has not even attempted a botanical or scien- 
tific expression of its forests, nor disclosed to the world the ad- 
vanced policy which has given to that empire thirty-five millions 
of forested land with all the attendant meteorological and climatic 
benefits.' 

Notwithstanding the difficulties which can readily be antici- 
pated, it was the original intention of California to make the 
World's Fair at St. Louis an occasion for a comprehensive ex- 
hibition of the forests of California, presenting their botanical 
aspects, the topographical expression of the forest floors, the rain- 
fall, and the relation of the forested flanks of the mountains of 
the State to the level agricultural areas which lie at their feet. 

The desire to accomplish this result was due to the unsurpassed 
forest wealth of California, including the wide range of varying 
botanical specimens, the vast magnitude of its commercial values, 
and the distinction which the forests of California enjoy by the 
possession of species unknown to other countries, which, coupled 
with the scenic grandeur of the densely wooded slopes, densely 
forested canyons and park-like plateaus, all combine to invest the 



THE FORESTS OF CALIFORNIA. 



103 



forests of California with intense interest to the botanist and 
sylvaculturist. 

Such an exhibit, however, would have involved a larger expendi- 
ture of money than was available for this purpose, and a larger 
exhibition space than could reasonably be expected at the hands 
of the exposition authorities. The scientific aspect alone, to possess 
any value, must be accompanied by a complete exhibition of bo- 
tanical specimens, and these would possess but little interest to 
the average spectator unaccompanied by a catalogue, which of itself 
would expand to the dimensions of a volume on the science of 
botany. 

The exhibit has been collected and installed in accordance with 




Plate No. 1 — Heavy forested declivity, 
Showing large growth on steep inclines of river canyons. 

the plan of taking the leading commercial species and presenting 
them fully. It was found impracticable to make a complete ex- 
hibition of all the tree growth of California possessing commercial 
value. To illustrate the impossibility of an adequate scientific 
exhibition, the facts relating to the pinus family may be adopted. 
The genus of forest trees known botanically as "pinus" com- 
prises eighty classified species; these are distributed over the 
North Temperate zone in both hemispheres. Of the eighty classi- 
fied species only twenty are found in Eurasia, a geographical 
designation given to a region extending from the Atlantic Ocean 
to the Pacific across northern Europe and Asia, a distance of nine 
thousand miles east and west; while sixty of the eighty known 



104 



CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 



species are found in North America, extending over a region of 
only three thousand miles east and west. Of these sixty, twenty- 
five are found on the Pacific slope west of the Rocky mountains. 
Of these twenty-five, twenty abound in the forests of California. 
California, therefore, possesses as many species of the pinus family 
as all Europe and Asia combined. 

Of the sequoia, which may be said to be indigenous and peculiar 
to California, we have but two classified varieties— the gigantea 
and the sempervirens, or in common parlance, the ''big trees" 
and the "redwood." Every commercial aspect of these two va- 
rieties of sequoia is fully presented in the forestry exhibit of Cali- 
fornia. These include some beautiful and striking cabinet forms 




Plate No. 2 — Middle altitudes of sierra Nevada mountains. 

which illustrate the use of the wood in public and domestic archi- 
tecture ; also broad planks, which indicate the ponderous growth of 
the trees. 

To understand the forests of the State of California, the topog- 
raphy of the State must be described. California is essentially a 
mountainous state. It comprises one hundred millions of acres 
of land, and of this about thirty millions are suitable for cultiva- 
tion; this leaves about seventy millions of acres comprising the 
densely forested areas of the State, unirrigated deserts hereafter 
to be reclaimed, and the high peaks of the mountain ranges which 
rise above the timber line. Interspersed with the mountain land 
there are valleys of varying extent in the coast region of the State, 
and other valleys of more or less significance in the great Sierra 



THE FORESTS OP CALIFORNIA, 



105 



Nevadas, which form the high east wall of the State of California, 
and constitute an insurmountable barrier to the climatic conditions 
of the North Temperate zone which prevail from their summits 
to the Atlantic Ocean. 

California is distinguished from all other countries by the pos- 
session of two extensive valleys of fertile plains completely sur- 
rounded by mountains ; these are the valleys of the Sacramento and 
San Joaquin rivers. They lie in the very heart of the State, and 
have a length north and south of six hundred and fifty miles, with 
an average width east and west of approximately thirty-five miles. 
These statements are intended merely to cover the average width, 
and not to express the greatest or least diameter of the ellipse. 




Plate No. 3 — Densely forested area covering mountain plateau. 

The two valleys comprise approximately fifteen millions of acres 
of land, being fifty per cent of the arable area of the State, and 
possessing at least seventy per cent of its fertility and productive 
capacity. 

From the mouth of the great canyon of the Sacramento valley 
on the north to the summit of Tehachapi on the south, a distance 
of six hundred and fifty miles, there is a continuous fertile plain, 
sometimes reaching a width which reduces the mountain ranges 
on either hand to the appearance of lowlying blue ridges rising 
above the horizon. 

To the eastward of this immense plain, the western escarpment 
of the Sierra Nevada exposes one continuous succession of splendid 
forests. Passing Tehachapi to the southward, these forests disap- 



106 



CAIJFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 



pear; passing Redding, at the mouth of the Sacramento canyon 
on the north, the forests close in from the Sierra Nevada and Coast 
Range systems, and the full breadth of the State is practically a 
forested country. 

Around the great fertile basin comprising the interior valley of 
California already described, there is a complete enclosure of 
mountains. The Coast Range to the west is wooded on its western 
slope and the Sierra Nevadas on the east are also wooded on their 
western slope and, in some measure, beyond the summits to the 
eastward. 

The area covered by the density of tree growth worthy of the 
designation of "forests" comprises twenty-two millions of acres. 




Plate No. 



-Forest of fir in high altitude. 



Of these, approximately eight millions of acres belong to the Coast 
Range system and consist chiefly of redwood, while the main forest 
of the State, covering the western flank of the Sierra Nevadas, com- 
prises sixteen millions of acres and consists chiefly of pine and fir. 
With the exception of small portions of the redwood districts, 
there are no "pure forests" in California. 

The most valuable commercial wood of the State is the sugar 
pine. The trees of this species attain a diameter of twelve feet 
and more and are not infrequently three hundred feet high. The 
wood is white, with fine, strong grain capable of receiving a high 
finish, is entirely devoid of resinous substances, and is in all re- 
spects the most valuable pine timber known. Its habitat is the 
middle altitudes of the Sierra Nevadas. It is seldom found below 



THE FORESTS OF CALIFORNIA. 



107 



thirty-five hundred feet above sea level, and very seldom above 
an altitude of six thousand feet. There are no pure forests of 
sugar pine. 

Some portions of this forested area are richer in this valuable 
wood than other portions, but the species is always accompanied 
by other species, and the twenty species of pine already mentioned 
comprise about seventy-five per cent of the forest trees in the State. 

Of the pines, four species have prominence, viz : 

1. Sugar Pine (Pinus lambertiana). 

2. Silver Pine (Pinus movticola). 

3. Yellow Pine, now called White Pine (Pinus ponderosa) . 

4. Black Pine (Pivus jeffreyi). 




Plate No. 5 — The blending zone between summer and perpetual winter. 

A conservative approximation of the quantity of merchantable 
lumber standing in the forests of California reaches the vast total 
of four hundred and forty billion feet. Since the forests of Cali- 
fornia are found in the mountainous districts of the State, the 
topography of the floors of these forests possesses interest. Topog- 
raphy is the controlling factor in the economic production of lum- 
ber from California forests. These forested lands are divided 
into hydrographic districts. In the commercial aspect of the sub- 
ject, the catchment area of a system makes all the forests gro\vn 
upon it tributary to the canyon line which constitutes the central 
drainage of that hydrographic area. In the parlance of the lum- 
bermen, the lands in a single drainage area can usually be "worked 
together ' ' ; which means that the instrumentalities of bringing the 



108 



CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 



logs to the mill and the lumber to trunk lines can be brought down- 
ward to the central line of drainage, and the construction and 
maintenance of these instrumentalities is very costly. The profit 
of lumbering is, therefore, largely dependent upon the magnitude 
of the enterprise relating to these hydrographic districts. 

At least seventy-five per cent of the forest floors of California 
are incline planes, and of these planes, at least sixty per cent have 
a declivity of twenty degrees. This is conveniently illustrated by 
cut No. 1, which is from a photograph of a heavy forested declivity 
illustrating the growth of trees on steep inclines of river canyons. 

Cut No. 2 is an illustration of a forested canyon, showing the 
large tree growth at the foot of a declivity in the very trough of 
the canyon, with the wooded hills in the distance. 




Plate No. 6 — Group of large white pines between open glades. 

The space allotted to this article in this publication will not ad- 
mit of any extended discussion as to the effects of forests upon 
the climate of California or the influence denudation would have 
upon the meteorological conditions of the State; but it will be ac- 
cepted as a pardonable digression from the plan of this article to 
call attention to the very obvious fact that since seventy-five per 
cent of the forest areas of California are found upon inclines of 
from fifteen to thirty degrees, the absence of the forests will cause 
the soil upon these slopes to disappear. The heavy rainfall of the 
region will erode these declivities and very soon lay the underlying 
bedrock bare. The soil floor of the forest having disappeared, its 
reservoir capacity will be extinguished and the immediate delivery 



THE FORESTS OF CALIFORNIA. 109 

of the precipitation into the channels of the central drainage of 
these areas will vastly augment the torrential character of the 
streams and ultimately destroy the navigability of the principal 
water highways of the State. Greatly increased maximum flood 
stages during the rainy season would ensue and unnavigable low 
water in the river channels for a period of six months in each year 
would follow. 

Cut No. 3 illustrates a densely forested area covering a moun- 
tain plateau. The forests shown in the illustration will produce 
fifty or sixty thousand feet of merchantable lumber to the acre. 

Rising above six thousand feet, there is a finely forested region, 
graphically illustrated by cut No. 4. 

Bej^ond this and upward toward the snowy summits of the 
great range, treeless fields are encountered having a picket line 
of stunted fir and spruce. This is the frontier of vegetation; the 
blending zone between the prevailing summer of the lower alti- 
tudes and the perpetual winter of the extreme summits. Cut 
No. 5 is an adequate illustration of this interesting region. 

The mountain plateaus may be divided into two classes— the 
level and the even. The designation "level" may be accepted for 
what that term means; the "even" designates an undulating 
floor with gradual and easily accessible slopes. These mountain 
plateaus are frequently interspersed with open glades, treeless 
because of excessive moisture. Cut No. 6 illustrates a group of 
large white pines between these open glades. The trees in the 
original, within the field of the camera, have an average diameter 
of five feet and an average height of two hundred feet. 

The attention of the reader is respectfully called to the classified 
exhibit of California in the Forestry Division. 



110 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

THE LUMBER INDUSTRY OF CALIFORNIA. 



By E. J. HOLT. 



Those who have gathered statistics (T. B. Walker of Minnesota, 
and others) upon the timber supply of the United States agree 
upon the following (not reassuring) facts: 

In the whole country they find about 1,003,000,000,000 feet 
(board measure — one inch thick and twelve inches square) of 
visible supply now standing. Of this total about 625,000,000,000 
feet (over 61 per cent) is in the three Pacific Slope states, viz, 
Washington, Oregon and California. Of these three, Oregon has 
225,000,000,000 feet (36 per cent), California and ' Washington 
each 200,000,000,000 feet (32 per cent). 

The census of 1900 shows that the timber cut of that year was 
26,000,000,000 feet, or .026 of the visible standing. Beyond this 
the supply was further depleted by some 3,000,000,000 feet cut 
into shingles, railroad ties, piles and other similar round, hewn 
and split products, and the process of elimination is increasing in 
an alarming degree. At this rate, were it possible to fit the product 
to the needs of the market, thirty-five years would see the end of 
our United States supply. 

However, there is a saving clause so far as the California forests 
are concerned, inasmuch as the greater supply and greater demand 
is for "common" grades for rough and framing work, for which, 
when the time comes, steel will be more largely substituted; 
while California's high-grade finishing woods will supply the needs 
for a longer period by far than thirty-five years. 

California's asset in her timbered lands is, therefore, becoming 
appreciated not only because of its present value, but more par- 
ticularly as it is the last and at the same time to be the most valu- 
able forest on earth. 

This pertinent fact demonstrates that as the timber tracts of the 
United States east of the Rocky mountains are rapidly becoming 
exhausted, especially so far as refers to woods in quantity and of 
quality with which to supply the domestic trade with material for 
interior and exterior finishing, shop work, doors and sash, etc., 
in fact, for all other purposes than common framing, the market 
must soon be largely supplied from this coast, and that California 
will, as time goes on, be called upon more and more for its wood 
for these and many other purposes. 

The particular uses mentioned require "clear" or "select" 
qualities of wood susceptible of easy working, slight shrinking 
and swelling, and which will take and hold good a finished sur- 
face, and of all Pacific Coast woods, the redwood, sugar pine and 
white pine of California are pre-eminently adapted to fulfill these 
requirements. 




H 
to 

W 
« 

o 

a 
o 
o 

a 






112 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

California woods also offer a source of supply sufficient for the 
probable needs of the next three generations, inasmuch as redwood 
trees produce from 40 to 75 per cent of "clear" and sugar pine 
and white pine from 20 to 30 per cent, as against the 3 to 5 per 
cent of the woods of the Middle West. 

California produces a variety of commercial woods, the most 
used being redwood, white pine, sugar pine, fir, spruce, cedar, 
"bull" pine, cottonwood, laurel, and eucalyptus, and in propor- 
tionate quantities about in the order named, redwood being pro- 
duced in the largest quantity of any, while the four last named 
cut but little commercial figure. 

(Sequoia sempervirens) is indigenous to this State; 

Redwood it covers a tract on the northwestern coast of Cali- 
fornia beginning at the northern line (there being 
not over 2,000 acres over the line in Oregon), and occupies a con- 
tinuous and fog-fed district from the seacoast eastward to the 
crest of the Coast Range of mountains about 240 miles long 
(north and south) and from 10 to 20 miles wide. 

In this district were originally about 1,200,000 acres of red- 
wood timbered lands, comprising practically the world's total 
supply of this most magnificent wood, having from sixty to seventy 
billion feet of superb merchantable timber, besides from 10 to 20 
per cent more in volume of by-products— split ties and posts, wood, 
some fir and tan bark. 

Some thirty mill plants have since 1860 grown up and grown 
rich in this district, and they now own a little less than one-half 
of the timbered acreage. These mills have removed probably not 
more than 15 per cent of the original standing, having during 
the forty-three years averaged 200,000,000 feet per annum, while 
the cut of 1903 from this district (comprising the counties of Del 
Norte, Humboldt, Mendocino and Sonoma) was slightly over 
300,000,000 feet. The present mill capacity is about 450,000,000 
feet, based on the theoretical ability to run continuously, which, 
however, is an overestimate of practicable results. 

The further existing supply of this wood is found only in the 
three small counties lying next south of San Francisco along the 
coast. This supply is very limited, the acreage being small and 
the timber of low grade, while the present rate of production, even 
though not now supplying the full demand of these counties, will 
have exhausted the total supply within the next decade. 

In the middle eastern part of the State stand in scattered 
groves the total remaining samples of the Sequoia gigantea, the 
monarchs of the world's forests. They too are redwood (Sequoia), 
but of a very different character, the product being brittle and 
soft and therefore not only difficult to handle but also mars so 
easily as to place it at a disadvantage in the markets where it meets 
the sempervirens. The nearby rail markets will consume the 
product at good paying prices. 

A wise government should, however, buy and reserve this melan- 
choly remnant of the most wonderful tree product of the world, 



THE LUMBER INDUSTRY OF CALIFORNIA. 



113 



not alone for the sentimental value, but also for the very practical 
and absolutely essential purpose of conserving the supply of water 
for the irrigation of the enormous and wonderfully fertile San 
Joaquin valley, which with water could support a population of 
five million souls. 

Besides these standing sequoias there are no others on earth ex- 
cept a few stunted trees in Japan. A curious fact and food for 
speculation is the presence of fossil remains of sequoia in Nevada, 
indicating, as do other facts, that we are witnessing the dying 
gasps of the last few hoary giants of an expiring species, probably 
the grandest flora of creation. Scientific research proves the age 
of many of these trees to be nine hundred or more years, while 




SAWING THE REDWOOD LOGS. 



it is an accepted probability that some of them were glorifying 
their Creator long before the beginning of the Christian era. 

From the foregoing it will be clear that the redwood of com- 
merce, from the broader standpoint, will all come from the district 
on the northwest coast of California. 

The topography of this district is generally that of a slope 
westerly from the crest of the Coast Range of mountains, which 
slope is serrated by lateral ridges separated by streams and rivers 
fed annually by from 50 to 80 inches of rain. The water shipping 
point in Del Norte county is an open roadstead; while for the 
whole of Humboldt county, the great bay of the same name 
affords a number of landings. 

Mendocino county has a rock-bound coast without bays or har- 

8 



114 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

bors, and cargoes are loaded over suspended wire chutes or trolleys, 
the outer end of the trolley wires being anchored in the ocean. The 
wire crosses the deck of the moored steamer, the slack being taken 
up to ship's gaff, thus making a tight wire, up and down which a 
traveling car is sent. 

Del Norte and Humboldt have no railroad connections with the 
markets, and but a very small part of the output of the other 
counties is now so handled, 95 per cent of the total being handled 
by water. 

Logging is mainly done by steam, fixed engines (bull donkeys), 
operating as much as one and a half miles of steel wire, dragging 
a train of logs containing from 30,000 to 50,000 feet to either a 
river bank or more often to a logging railroad, which in turn 
delivers the logs to the mill. Logs are cut in lengths of from 12 to 
20 feet and from 16 inches diameter up to capacity of mill. 

Sawing is done mainly with heavy band-saw mills, which have 
lately displaced most of the old double and triple circulars. 

Machinery is necessarily very heavy, as butt logs frequently 
sink, while the average weight of fresh-sawn lumber is nearly four 
pounds per board foot. Commercial trees have diameters at the 
stump ranging from 20 inches to 17 feet, and averaging about 
four feet in the northern part of the district, and one foot less 
in the southern part. 

Mill companies generally own their lands, at costs varying from 
60 cents to $1.50 per thousand feet on the stump. A mill buying 
stumpage for immediate cutting would be called upon to pay from 
$1.35 to $2.50 per thousand feet on the stump, according to avail- 
ability, amount per acre, quality, etc. Humboldt and Del Norte 
timbered lands carry from 50,000 to 150,000 feet per acre, 
averaging about 75,000 feet, while Mendocino county lands carry 
from 35,000 to 100,000 feet per acre, averaging from 50,000 to 
60,000 feet. Quality of product is softest in the northern part of 
the district, more acid appearing with consequent increasing hard- 
ness and weight the farther south the growth. 

Markets for redwood are world wide. Its fitness for a great 
variety of uses is extraordinary. Its fire-resisting qualities are 
unique, owing to presence of acid and absence of pitch or resin. 
When green it is difficult to burn it at all, and when dry it is not 
easy to ignite and is easily extinguished. The Fire Marshal of 
San Francisco is on record in writing, authorizing its use in the 
building of "fire walls" above brick buildings. When the Baldwin 
Hotel (six stories of brick and wood) burned in San Francisco 
some years ago, two redwood water tanks on top of the only stand- 
ing brick wall were found to be intact, being hardly charred, and 
were still water-tight. It endures the action of both weather and 
soil to a remarkable degree, the writer having in his office a shingle 
in good condition which was taken from a roof in Fort Humboldt 
after forty-one years of service. Experience proves its efficient 
life Tinder ground to be twelve years, as against fir, four years, 
and oak, six years. Its acid also makes it distasteful to insect 



THE LUMBER INDUSTRY OF CALIFORNIA. 



115 



pests, and effectually prevents their ravages, which are so disas- 
trous to most other woods. Marine pests will attack it ultimately, 
but only to a limited degree and after a long time. Costs of 
product delivered in San Francisco average about $13 per thou- 
sand feet, while the present selling price averages approximately 
$18 per thousand feet. 

Quoting two authorities : ' ' Such, then, are some of the quali- 
ties and many of the uses to which redwood is pre-eminently 
adapted; and when its virtues have been properly tested, it has 
never yet been supplanted by any other wood in the lines for 
which its peculiar virtues recommend it. The constant increas- 
ing demand in countries where introduced speaks volumes in its 



1 




A DOOMED FOREST GIANT. 



praise. It is certainly very difficult to find any constructive wood 
in the whole realm of building material that for beauty and 
grandeur of growth, variety of grain, structure or color, or the 
purposes for which it can be used, will surpass the Sequoia 
sempervirens." 

"It is a beautiful lumber, wide and clear. It has a quality as 
distinct as the territory in which it grows. While not a veritable 
salamander, it is closely related to the salamander tribe. The dis- 
trict bounded by the fire limits of San Francisco is smaller than 
that of any other city of its size in the country ; one reason being 
that the buildings are constructed largely of redwood and will not 
easily burn. * * * The fact that redwood swells, shrinks or 
warps but slightly especially adapts it not only for shingles but for 



116 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

tanks, vats and patterns, while its rich color and susceptibility to 
high polish, especially of the curly grained varieties and high birds- 
eye burls, are bringing it into great demand for cabinet work. 
* * * The stumps of trees felled half a century ago are mostly 
as sound today as they ever were. Rarely does a redwood stump 
show signs of decay. * * * ■w'ill redwood hold paint? Here 
again is culled out one of the many good qualities of this match- 
less wood. Redwood will hold paint better than any other building 
wood, a fact that is demonstrated beyond a doubt wherever it is 
in use : and this, together with its non-warping and non-shrinking 
qualities, make it peculiarly adapted for siding and outside finish- 
ing of buildings." 

In 1897 a book called the "Home of the Redwood" was pub- 
lished, setting forth by word and picture the wonders and details 
of the redwood industry. Unfortunately but few copies remain 
unsold, as Eastern lumbermen have of later years been busily 
showing their faith by their acts of investigation and investment. 
Sugar pine (Pinus lamhertiana) and "White pine 
Pine. (Pinus ponderosa) have their habitat in the high 
Sierra, near the snow line. These woods grow mixed 
and are friendly neighbors with the "bull" pine (Pinus jeffreyi) 
and a cedar, which latter two, however, are of scanty supply, 
coarse growth, and therefore used for rough work locally, not 
being qualified to meet other woods in common markets. 

The lowest altitude in which these woods best thrive is about 
3,000 feet, while the highest is about 7,000 feet, the best growth 
occurring at an elevation of from 4,000 to 4,500 feet. They are 
evergreen; their needles dropping as new ones grow throughout 
the year. They thrive best in the red mountain soil, which is a 
mixture of clay and bedrock, substrata of the mountains being 
slate and granite. 

The average diameter of saw-timber is about 3 feet, though 
trees down to 14 inches in diameter are cut for sawlogs. The 
larger specimens attain a diameter of from 8 to 12 feet, with a 
height of from 180 to 250 feet. The average distance from ground 
to limbs is 60 feet, though frequently 90-foot bodies are found. 
These woods also grow mixed with redwood on the coast, but they 
are of hybrid quality and infrequent. 

The natural habitat is like that of redwood, its northern extreme 
in southern Oregon, but extends southeasterly to the desert section 
of the southern part of the State, not far south of Yosemite valley. 
It also grows to some extent in Nevada and in .Arizona; but in 
these latter districts the growth is sparse, the body short, and the 
quality of much lower grade than that of California. The best 
growth is in the tier of counties in the northern central part 
of the State having a westerly watershed, and is practically con- 
tinuous southeasterly. 

The Southern Pacific Railroad and its easterly branches at 
Sisson, Chico, Red Bluff, Sacramento, Stockton, and along the east 
side of the upper part of the San Joaquin valley, receive and 



THE LUMBER INDUSTRY OP CALIFORNIA. 



117 



transport the total cut of these woods except such little as is used 
locally. In many cases private mill-owned roads connect mills 
with main railroad, and also in many cases box and door factories 
located at mills prepare the lower grades of the product for their 
ultimate uses, thus saving both cost in manufacture and in trans- 
portation. Logging is done partly by steam and partly with ani- 
mals, as the logs average much smaller than redwood, but still 
much larger than the pine of the Middle West. 

Costs of production vary, but probably average close to $12.50 
per thousand feet on board main-line car, while the selling prices 
range from $10 for low-grade box material to $50 for No. 1. 

The sugar and white pine interests are in a flourishing condi- 




A BOARD SIXTEEN FEET WIDE. 



tion, due to the efforts put forth in the past three years by the 
principal manufacturers in introducing this lumber throughout 
the entire Eastern States, between the Rocky mountains and the 
Atlantic seaboard, from Wisconsin to the Gulf of Mexico, and it 
has been demonstrated through the manufacturers of sash and 
doors and to the general user of white pine throughout this vast 
territory, that the California product holds equal merit with the 
old-time popular so-called cork pine of Michigan and the white 
pine of Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. 

These woods are white, soft, durable, straight-grained, easy to 
work, slow to absorb dampness, take polish or paint, will and 
can be milled in match sizes without splitting easily, though split- 
ting clean if forced. They shrink less than most pines, which fact 



118 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

is essential in good flooring timber, but these woods are too soft for 
this purpose, yet are unsurpassed for finish, ceiling, doors and 
sash, patterns, trays, sinks, kitchen tables, cabinets, shelving, etc. 
Where reasonable strength, durability, ease in working by either 
hand or machinery, cleanliness and stability of form and surface 
are wanted at a reasonable price, these woods have no peer. 

The Diamond Match Company has lately acquired large hold- 
ings in the counties of Butte, Plumas and Tehama and has com- 
pleted a 35-mile standard railroad to connect its tract with the main 
railroad at Chico. The company plans a total investment of over 
$3,000,000, a good part of which is already expended. The Scott 
& Van Arsdale Lumber Company has a similar plant in full opera- 
tion in Shasta county, worth $3,000,000 or more. These plants are 
exceptions, however. 

In conclusion, it seems fit that this article should make a plea 
for forest preservation, conservation and renewal. Under present 
laws and competition, the methods of lumbering are wasteful in 
the extreme, it being a probable fact that approximately only 
fifty per cent of the actual standing timber is marketed, while the 
logged-over tracts are burned and totally neglected, to the utter 
extinction of the forest tree in that locality. Reforestry is un- 
thought of and the young trees are treated as a nuisance. 



THE FISHES OF CALIFORNIA. 



By DAVID STARR JORDAN. 

President of Leiand Stanford Junior University. 



The total number of fishes known to exist in the waters of 
California is 435. These may be grouped in regard to their dis- 
tribution, as follows : About 165 species may be referred to as 
cold-water fauna. These are species that live near the shore, and 
whose proper home is found north of Point Conception, or in the 
cold current which sweeps along our coast, and which renders its 
waters less warm than in corresponding regions on the Asiatic 
side. About 117 species belong to the semi-tropical fauna. This 
occurs to the south of Point Conception and beyond the reach of 
the cold currents of the north. Of course, these two categories are 
not sharply divided by Point Conception. Many of the northern 
species are found south of this point, in deeper water, or among 
the rocks, some even of the northern species going far down into 
Mexico. On the other hand, many southern species find their way 
northward as far as San Francisco. 

Of the 165 species that belong to the north of Point Conception 
we have two very distinct categories ; the one comprises the Arctic 



THE PISHES OF CALIFORNIA. 119 

and sub-Arctic fishes like the halibut, the sturgeon, and the 
herring, and several varieties of the flounders. With these are a 
great body of peculiarly California types, which are scarcely or not 
at all represented in other regions, and which evidently had their 
origin upon our coast. Among these, and most conspicuous, are 
the various species of surf fishes, all viviparous, all commonly and 
wrongly known as perch. Scarcely less abundant are the various 
species of rock fishes, red, green, and black in color, which go by 
the general name of rock cod. The presence of these two types, 
both viviparous, together with the peculiar coast type of salmon, is 
the most remarkable feature of the fish fauna of California. 

The species which belong south of Point Conception are in most 
cases closely allied to tropical species, and have evidently had their 
origin in migrations from the south. These are, as a rule, not dis- 
tinctly Californian, but belong to types which are widely diffused 
through the warm waters of the tropics. Their relations are with 
the West Indian forms, rather than with the other fishes of 
California. 

About one hundred species of deep-sea fishes have been ob- 
tained by the "Albatross" in the depths of the ocean off the 
continental slope of California. These creatures are as a rule 
very soft in body and almost black in color, and many of them 
covered with luminous spots, or lanterns, by which they can see 
their way in the darkness. They live in the open sea, at a depth 
of from two to five miles, and their soft bodies at this depth are 
rendered firm by the tremendous pressure of the surrounding 
waters. In their native haunts the light and heat of the sun 
scarcely penetrate, the darkness is almost absolute, and the tem- 
perature of the water is at the point of freezing. The creatures 
living at these great depths are not, generally speaking, descended 
from the shore species of the same region. They constitute groups 
by themselves, and forms very similar are found in all parts of 
the ocean, from the poles to the equator. 

About forty-five species inhabit the fresh waters of California. 
These are about equally divided between the great basin of the 
Sacramento and the San Joaquin and the basin of the Colorado. 
Besides the species of trout, most of the fresh-water fishes come 
under the head of suckers and chubs. 

Of the whole number of fishes found, 133 of the 
Fishes for marine species are properly to be called food fishes, 
the Table found more or less frequently in the markets, and 
being more or less fit for table use. The others, on 
account of small size, ill favor or tastelessness of flesh, are not 
used for food; or else are used only when salted and dried by the 
Chinese, to whose soups and chowders nothing seems to come amiss. 
About twenty of the fresh-water fishes are also food fishes, but only 
seven or eight of these have much value as such. 

The distribution of fishes, that is, the question of the extent of 
the area inhabited by any particular kind, depends on a number 
of different conditions, the most important of these being the 



120 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

temperature of the water. Most fishes are extremely sensitive to 
any change of heat or cold. Where, as is sometimes the case, the 
temperature of the water changes abruptly at a given point, the 
character of the fishes will be found to change equally. A very 
little cold is often sufficient to benumb and paralyze a fish of the 
tropics. On the other hand, the fishes of cold regions can not en- 
dure any degree of heat to which they are not accustomed; and 
doubtless the fishes in the depths would be suffocated by the tem- 
perature of the surface water, even if their lives were not destroyed 
by the diminution of pressure. 

Another element almost equal in importance is that of depth. 
The great majority of marine fishes that we know well, or that we 
recognize as food fishes, are shore species, inhabiting depths of 
from one to fifteen fathoms. The great variety of oceanic life is 
found within this range, through which the light and heat of the 
sun readily penetrate. As we go lower we find that the shore 
fauna disappear. The greenish-colored shore fishes give place at 
from fifty to one hundred fathoms to other species, the prevail- 
ing color of which is red. The green or gray colors match the 
colors of the sand and kelp ; the red ones harmonize with the red 
sea mosses among which the red fishes live. In still greater depths, 
where light and heat disappear, the prevailing hues are violet or 
black, the color of darkness. 

Of less importance, but still a determining quality 
Cannibals for very many fishes, is the character of the food to 
of the Sea. be obtained. Each species thrives best where those 
creatures on which it naturally feeds are most abun- 
dant. The herbivorous fishes live among the tide pools, where 
they can feed upon the small seaweed; the crab-eating fishes live 
among the rocks, and those which feed upon herring and silver- 
sides flourish best in the open sea. 

As regards their preference in the matter of surroundings, the 
fish of the coast may again be divided as follows : Of the pelagic 
species, about twenty visit the coast of California. These are 
fishes which swim freely in the open sea, living mostly near the 
surface, often moving for hundreds of miles and belonging to no 
one country more than another. Of species living about the rocks 
and feeding upon the small animals which abound in the seaweeds 
there are fifty species, of which thirty belong to the group known 
as "rock cod." All of these are food fishes, although not of the 
best quality. One feature concerning them which is not generally 
known is that all of them are viviparous. Their eggs are laid in 
immense numbers, but they are hatched in the body of the female, 
so that the young are born at the length of one-fourth to one-sixth 
of an inch, and commonly rolled up in a coil, only the closest ob- 
servers being able to detect that the egg was hatched before being 
turned loose in the sea. 

Of the kelp fishes there are twenty-five species. These are 
chiefly confined to the beds of kelp which are characteristic of the 
California coast, nothing like it existing on the Atlantic. Some 



THE FISHES OP CALIFORNIA. 121 

of these feed upon seaweeds themselves, more upon the mollusks 
and crabs which find their home among the marine plants. Like 
the rock fishes, the kelp fishes are usually taken by the baited hook 
from the deck of a boat. 

There are ten anadromous species; that is, species which ascend 
the river in the spring or fall for the purpose of spawning in fresh 
water, but passing the greater part of their lives in the sea. Of 
the anadromous fishes the most important are the salmon; the 
largest in size are the sturgeons. But besides these species several 
little ones, such as the lampreys, have similar habits. 

The fisheries of the coast as a whole are relatively little de- 
veloped. The bay of San Francisco, the bay of Monterey, the bay 
of San Diego, and a region about Avalon are fully fished— over- 
fished at times; but the great length of the coast remains almost 
untouched. Captain Collins estimates that on the 2,000 miles of 
the coast of California, Oregon and Washington the fisheries are 
about equal to those of 500 miles on the coast of New England. 
The value of the product is about the same in the two districts, 
and may be roughly set down at $15,000,000 per year. Of this 
amount the salmon fisheries of the Columbia represent between a 
third and a fourth, and some $4,000,000 belongs to California. 
This represents from 30,000,000 to 40,000,000 pounds of fishes 
each year. 

The salmon fisheries of the Sacramento are chiefly in the counties 
of Solano and Contra Costa. For a number of years these fisheries 
steadily declined. This was due to overfishing and to the destruc- 
tion of the spawning beds through lumbering and placer mining. 
Practically, the only spawning beds left in the Sacramento basin 
are in the river itself about Red Bluff. The United States Fish 
Commission came to the rescue, and through the hatchery stations 
at Baird and Battle Creek it has repopulated the river. At present 
more salmon run in the Sacramento than when the stream flowed 
through primeval wilderness. 

The salmon of the Sacramento is the quinnat or king salmon, 
the largest and finest of all the salmon tribe. It reaches in four 
years an average weight of sixteen pounds. When mature, at the 
age of three or four years, it leaves the sea and runs up the stream 
to spawn. It leaves the sea in early summer and spawns in the 
fall in the upper reaches of the rivers. After spawning all die, 
male and female. After leaving the sea the salmon of this species 
never feed, although they readily take the trolling hook in Mon- 
terey bay. The salmon has from 4,000 to 5,000 eggs. As naturally 
spawned, one egg in a hundred or more hatches and escapes its 
enemies. The fish hatchery undertakes to hatch ninety-five out 
of every one hundred and to put them in the river to drift down- 
ward to the sea — "tail foremost," in the old salmon fashion — to 
return again as mature fishes. The salmon are best as taken in 
or near the sea. From August to October the old ones are prac- 
tically unfit for food, being lean and poor. 



122 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS. RESOURCES, ETC. 

Besides the trout and salmon, California has many 
The Real other game fish. First of these is the great tunny, 
Fish Royal, or leaping tuna, which ranges from 150 pounds to 
half a ton, and finds its greatest abundance about 
Avalon. This wonderful bay has many roving fishes, taken with 
the trolling spoon— the yellow tail, the albacore, and the huge bass 
called jewfish, with a head as large as a bushel basket. The bar- 
racuda and the great flying-fish are among the game fishes about 
the Santa Barbara islands. 

These noble fishes deserve protection from the amateur angler 
who catches a dozen or a hundred, has them hung up and photo- 
graphed, himself beside them, then hires the guide to bury them 
while he goes away to have fun in his own fashion somewhere else. 

Of introduced fishes, two, the striped bass and the shad, both 
planted about 1878 from the Potomac and the Schuylkill, have 
been of the greatest value to California. The striped bass can be 
found in the markets at all times, and in flavor they are as good 
as in their native waters. 

Other fishes which have been introduced are the carp, which 
has proved an unmitigated nuisance; the two species of catfish, 
which while having value, have displaced better native fishes and 
should have been left at home; the black bass, which thrives well 
in the ponds; and the green-blue sunfish, introduced into Clear 
lake as food for the bass. The most valuable fish yet to be intro- 
duced is the Japanese ayu, or samlet, a diminutive salmon about 
a foot long, as delicate in flesh as a fish can be. It runs in count- 
less numbers in all the clear streams of Japan, Corea, and 
Formosa, and should have a place in California. The eel should 
also be introduced into California. 

I may note in passing that the markets of San Francisco fall 
far short of what they ought to be, and many fish are served in 
a stale condition. Even our best hotels are none too particular, 
for which reason our Eastern visitors often wrongly infer that 
our fish are not so good as those to which they are accustomed. 
The fish are just as good, but in our glorious climate they keep 
longer without decaying. But in doing this they grow very stale 
and lose their fine flavor. The difl:'erence is not in the fish, but in 
the care the dealers take of them, and as to this San Francisco 
will some time grow more exacting. 

The fisheries of Alaska are also largely tributary to 
We Get California, being developed by California capital 

Alaska s ^^^ ^^^ product mostly brought to San Francisco. 
' The red salmon, blueback salmon, or sockeye, in 

Alaska outranks in value every other species of fish in the world. 
Its annual product in Alaska is worth $1,000,000 more than the 
original cost of Alaska to the United States. It exceeds the en- 
tire mineral output of Alaska per year by $1,750,000. The pack 
of red salmon and other salmon for 1902 amounted to 2,631,320 
cases (forty-eight pounds), worth on an average about $3.50 each, 
or $9,207,520 in all. That of last year (1903) is somewhat 



THE FISHES OF CALIFORNIA. 123 

smaller, but is valued at between $6,000,000 and $8,000,000. The 
greatest red salmon fisheries are about Bristol bay and Kadiak 
island, but the species runs in some thirty different streams from 
Puget sound northward to the Yukon. 

The codfish is as abundant in the North Pacific as in the North 
Atlantic, but the limitations of the market have prevented their 
development, except about the Shumagin islands and in the sea 
of Okhotsk. The herring and halibut have also a large and grow- 
ing importance in Alaska. 

The following is a list of the chief food fishes of 
Oup Chief California, arranged in systematic order, beginning 
Food Fishes, with those of simplest anatomical structure. They 
are grouped in classes. A— those of high impor- 
tance; B, C, D— progressively less: 

Soup-fin shark (D), used by Chinese; California ray (D), used 
by Latin people. 

White sturgeon (B), green sturgeon (D). 

Quinnat salmon (A), silver salmon (C). 

Steelhead trout (A), Tahoe trout (A). 

Rainbow trout (A), cut- throat trout (D). 

Dolly Varden trout (D), eulachon (C). 

Surf smelt (B), small smelt (C). 

Shad (introduced, A). 

Herring (A). 

Sardine (A), anchovy (C), silver anchovy (D), moray (D). 

Sucker (D), squaw fish (D). 

Chub (D), carp (introduced, D). 

Bullhead (introduced, B), gray catfish (introduced, D). 

Needle-fish (D), flying-fish (C). 

Pesce rey (blue smelt. A) ; small pesce rey, miscalled smelt or 
white bait (C). 

Mullet (B), barracuda (A). 

Sand lance (D), chub mackerel (C). 

Santa Cruz mackerel (D), tuna (A). 

Albacore (A), oceanic bomto (D). 

California bomto (B), alleterato (D). 

Sword fish (C), yellow tail (A). 

Horse mackerel (C) ; poppy fish, miscalled pompano (B). 

Mariposa (D), Sacramento perch (C). 

Striped bass (introduced. A), jewfish (B), San Diego rock bass 
(C), banded ronco (D). 

Spot-fin cracker (C), queenfish (B). 

Kingfish (C), sea bass (A). 

Weakfish (D) ; California surf fishes or perch, twenty kinds 
(C, D). 

Garibaldi (D), fathead (B). 

Senorita (D), headfish (D). 

Rock fish, thirty species, called rock cod (A). 

Priestfish, Spanish flag, Boccacio, etc., red, black, green, banded 
or speckled (A. B). 



124 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

Skilfish (C), greenling (C). 

Blue-spotted greenling, sea trout (B) ; cultus cod (C). 

Blanquillo (C), kelp fish (D). 

Pollack (D), tomcod (B). 

Hake (C), halibut (A). 

Monterey halibut (B) ; flounders, thirty kinds (B, C). 



CATTLE^RAISING IN CALIFORNIA. 



By peter J. SHIELDS. 



The breeding of livestock in California has many features 
peculiar to itself, and may well be said to be in a formative con- 
dition. The breeding and ranging of cattle of both the beef and 
the dairy varieties are in a condition of adjustment, and the next 
ten years will witness many material changes in the manner in 
which they are conducted. 

California is probably the only one of the Middle Western and 
Pacific Coast states which does not produce all the dairy and beef 
cattle used and consumed within its borders, and at the same time 
ship cattle for slaughter. This condition is the more remarkable 
when taken in connection with another fact, which is that Cali- 
fornia is the best fitted by reason of soil, climate and food products 
to produce cattle economically of any state in the Union. The 
reasons for this underproduction are many. California is not an 
old state, nor is its population dense. Its agriculture is not 
greatly diversified, and there is almost an entire absence of the 
small breeder and of small herds bred and fed upon the farm. 
The chief reason, however, is that California's energies have been 
exercised in other directions, and she has subordinated her beef- 
growing and dairy industries to others which she has carried to 
a high development. Her first great industry was mining, and 
she produced more gold than any other state in the Union, or 
other subdivision of the earth. Wheat-growing followed, in which 
she took high rank, especially excelling in the use of agricultural 
machinery. Horticulture succeeded, and in this particular she 
is without a parallel. Cattle-breeding has waited on these indus- 
tries; but in the progress of events the day of the cow has come, 
and the next few years will witness a development and perfection 
in the breeding of high-class cattle which will compare with her 
present horticultural pre-eminence. 

At the time of the acquisition of the territory of California by 
the United States in 1848 large herds of cattle of the Mexican 
type roamed over her foothills and valleys in almost a wild state. 
They were slaughtered chiefly for their hides and tallow, which 



CATTLE-RAISING IN CALIFORNIA. 



125 



were purchased by traders plying vessels along the coast. Follow- 
ing the American occupation these conditions did not rapidly 
change, and some features of them still remain. The cattle-breed- 
ing industry of California is still distinguished by the large hold- 
ings of land, the vast herds and the great ranges. The ranges of 
such breeders as Miller & Lux and the Kern County Land Com- 
pany easily exceed one million acres each, while ranges of nearly 
equal extent are owned and used by Cox & Clark, Vail & Gates, 
J. V. Viekers, The California Agricultural and Pastoral Company, 
the Howard Estate and many others. California, however, is not 
exclusively a range state. A very large number of cattle are bred 
and fed on irrigated alfalfa ranges in the central and southern 



^^- ■■mR?'--^R.- 









Tmi 



HOLSTEIN CALVES. 



San Joaquin valley. Many cattle, too, are grown on the alfalfa 
fields in the Sacramento valley, where, on the moist rich lands 
along the rivers and on the irrigated tracts, alfalfa grows to per- 
fection ; and wherever this incomparable crop is grown animal life 
takes on its highest development. 

The number of cattle in the State is difficult to determine, the 
census returns from California being probably less reliable than 
those from other states where the holdings are smaller and the 
herds much more numerous. A study of the returns shows that 
the number of cattle is only slightly increasing under the range 
system. And it is not probable that it will increase. We must 
look for increase only as the result of the spread of irrigation, the 
growing of more alfalfa, the subdivision of large holdings, and 



126 . CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

the advent of the farmer breeder and feeder. In 1860 California 
ranked sixth among the states as a cattle producer, reporting 
1,180,142 head. In 1870, she fell to eleventh place, reporting less 
than two-thirds as many cattle as ten years previously. She 
showed little increase in 1880, by which time she had fallen to the 
rank of twenty-first among the states. In 1890 she reached her 
highest mark, when she ranked thirteenth with 1,367,118 head. 
By the census of 1900 she had fallen to seventeenth place, and the 
number of cattle had declined to 1,115,194 head. While these enu- 
merations are probably under the correct figures, they clearly 
show that California has been developing her other industries at 
the expense of cattle-breeding, and that it was chiefly from prog- 
ress in other lines that she has obtained her high rank among the 
states as a producer of wealth. In the United States there 'are 
17.64 head of cattle per sauare mile, while in California there 
are but 7.15 head, she ranking fortieth among the states and 
territories. 

To determine what percentage of the cattle used and consumed 
in California are bred and grown in the State is difficult. The 
best advices at the writer's command lead to the conclusion that 
not more than forty-five per cent of the cattle slaughtered in 
California are home-bred and grown. 

There are slaughtered in San Francisco each month about 
15,000 cattle, at Los Angeles about 9,000, at Sacramento about 
1,000, at Stockton and Fresno about 800 each, and at other places 
in the State such an additional number as brings the monthly 
average up to about 50,000 head. To supply this demand there 
are annually brought into the State from the Republic of Mexico, 
Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Oregon and Nevada about 350,000 
head. Of this number about 150,000 come from Oregon and 
Nevada, about 150,000 from New Mexico and Arizona, and the 
remaining 50,000 from Texas and Mexico. 

The grade of the cattle slaughtered in California is not at pres- 
ent as high as that of those which supply the great cattle markets 
of the Middle Western States. They are very largely range cattle 
and occasionally show in addition to the ordinary range charac- 
teristics some slight traces of their Mexican ancestry. Consider- 
ing their breeding, however, California cattle are unequaled, as 
the favorable climatic conditions under which they grow produce 
an excellence unapproached by animals no better bred. The use 
of pure-bred bulls upon the range is largely increasing, and range 
cattle are showing a marked improvement in size and quality. 
When they have been graded up to the breed standard of Eastern 
cattle, they will be of greatly superior individuality and merit, 
owing to the richness of the California grasses, and the climatic 
conditions being so favorable to growth and development. The 
cattle brought into California from Arizona, New Mexico, Texas 
and Mexico are most frequently Hereford grades and show more 
or less the characteristics of that breed. The Oregon and Nevada 
cattle have been generally Shorthorn grades of good type, but in 



CATTLE-RAISING IN CALIFORNIA. 



127 



recent years the cattle from these states show a strong infusion 
of Hereford blood. Of the home-grown cattle of California about 
two-thirds are produced south of San Joaquin county and about 
one-third north of that place. These cattle are chiefly of the Short- 
horn type, being grades of that breed upon the native cattle. 

The first improvement of our cattle, however, was through the 
use of "American" cattle brought across the plains in pioneer 
days. These animals were undoubtedly mostly grades of some of 
the improved breeds. The cattle of the northern part of the State 
are of marked superiority over those farther south, owing to the 
much larger number of pure-bred sires having been used by the 
northern breeders. This larger use is attributed to the annual 




CATTLE IN CLOVER. 



exhibitions of fine cattle at the state fairs at Sacramento, surround- 
ing which city the superiority is most marked. 

. In cattle classed in the census as "milch cows" Cali- 

Cattlp fornia ranks somewhat better than as a producer of 
beef animals. While she occupies the same rank, be- 
ing seventeenth in each, she compares more favorably with the 
states ahead of her. The last census credits California with 
307,245 milch cows, being about one-fifth as many as New York 
and Iowa and one-third as many as Illinois, Pennsylvania and 
Ohio. Dairy statistics of California will be given elsewhere; it 
will be sufficient here to say that the quality of the dairy cattle 
of this State is not as high as that of other states which have spe- 
cialized along dairy lines, and that until recent years the breeding 



128 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

of dairy cattle has experienced the neglect incident to our more 
general attention to other industries. As to breed, the native or 
common cow predominates among our dairy cattle, although a 
very large percentage of them give indications of more or less im- 
proved blood, Shorthorn predominating. Jersey blood is very gen- 
erally evidenced, with Holstein showing an increasing popularity. 
While the general average of California's beef and 
Pure-Bred dairy cattle is not high, the contrary is true of the 
Cattle. pure-bred cattle within her borders. The great for- 

tunes which our pioneer citizens accumulated in the 
mines, in railroad construction, fruit- and wheat-growing, en- 
abled them to indulge their taste for fine-bred animals, and early 
in our history and constantly since some of the choicest animals 
which money could buy have been purchased for California. Many 
famous herds have been collected, and from their increase, and as 
a consequence of their dismemberment and sale, many smaller 
herds are now scattered throughout the State, representing the 
best types of the various breeds. These herds have been well 
maintained, others are constantly being established, and Cali- 
fornia may safely be said to be on the verge of a great cattle- 
breeding development. 

Shorthorns were first of all the varieties of pure- 
Shorthorns, bred cattle to be introduced into California, and 
have always remained favorites with our beef-breeders 
and dairymen. Among both our beef and dairy cattle the Short- 
horn cross is most frequently encountered, and to it we are prob- 
ably most indebted for what progress we have made in improving 
our cattle. The first known introduction of pure-bred Shorthorns 
into the State occurred in 1858, although well-bred animals had 
previously been brought in by immigrant trains across the plains. 
After this, importations were steady and frequent, until now the 
blood of this royal breed is well distributed and in the hands of 
aggressive and intelligent breeders. At the present time twelve 
or fifteen large-sized breeding herds exist in the State, represent- 
ing all of the most prominent families, domestic and imported, 
including a nrnnber of herds of high-class milking Shorthorns. In 
addition to these, many smaller herds exist, and still more herds 
of very high-grade females headed by choice pure-bred sires. A 
splendid field exists in California for the establishment of choice 
herds of this popular breed, where a ready sale for surplus animals 
at good prices is assured. 

Of recent years, the Hereford, now so popular as 
Herefords. feeders both in the corn-growing states and upon the 
western ranges, has been making many friends in 
California. Up to 1884 this breed was known only to our people 
through individual specimens, but during that year a large herd 
was brought to California from New Zealand, shown at the state 
fair at Sacramento, and sold throughout the State. Since that 
time these cattle have enjoyed an increasing popularity until 
within the last few years they have been taken up by many strong 



CATTLE-RAISING IN CALIFORNIA. 129 

breeders and may now be considered as well established here. Six 
or eight large and very superior herds of the choicest Herefords 
are now owned in California and the breed is daily obtaining a 
wider popularity. A strong demand exists for cattle of this breed, 
and a much greater number could be bred here at a good profit. 

This highly meritorious breed is singularly fitted for 
Devons. a considerable use under the conditions which pre- 
vail in California, but is unaccountably neglected. 
The first Devons were brought here in 1860, and since that time 
have been bred and used by a number of active breeders. Some 
use is now made of Devon bulls, but few animals of the breed are 
available and our breeders have generally ceased to look for or 
use them. But one or two pure-bred herds are owned in the State, 
and they are little advertised and never exhibited. An active 
breeder of this useful breed, having good animals, could undoubt- 
edly find a ready sale for his surplus at good prices. 

It will occur to the breeders and feeders of the great 
Polled An- Middle Western cattle belt as strange that these great 
gus and breeds are little used in California, but such is the 

Galloways, fact. For some reason our range breeders have not 

regarded them as successful when ranged with large 
herds of the type of cattle used in California under the condi- 
tions which prevail here. In small herds, as feeders and in the 
hands of the farmer breeder, they have been most successful, but 
as such herds have not been numerously maintained heretofore 
in California, these animals have not been sought for. Under the 
changed conditions now dawning in the State they will be in de- 
mand and the time is now ripe for the establishment here of good 
herds of these famous breeds. 

A few Red Polls have been brought to California and 
Red Polls have met with popular favor. Wherever they have 
and Brown been used, either in the dairy or on the range, they 
Swiss. have given satisfaction; but their use has been so 

recent and so limited that they have made no impres- 
sion on the tj^e of California cattle. Even less can be said of 
the Brown Swiss, of which the writer knows of only one herd in 
the State. 

This great breed has been strangely neglected in 
Guernseys. California. In 1881 the first herd was brought to 

this State direct from the island, but it was not long 
maintained. Its dispersal, however, carried its blood into many 
of the practical dairies of the State, and did its part to enrich 
them. Individual animals have from time to time been brought 
here, and at the present time a number of choice animals of this 
breed are being used and bred from in the larger dairy region 
about Fresno. They are meeting with such favor that the demand 
for Guernseys is now great, and a breeder of these popular ani- 
mals could find no better place to conduct his business than in 
California. 

9 



130 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

This great breed has long been. popular in California 
Jerseys. and is the most generally distributed of any of the 
improved dairy breeds. Fortunately for the Jerseys, 
they early attracted the attention of a number of California's 
wealthy men, who spared neither money nor pains to secure the 
best possible representatives of the breed. The first Jerseys in 
any number were brought here in 1872, and for some years follow- 
ing they were brought very numerously into the State, shown at 
the annual fairs, and distributed generally over the State. Most 
of our dairy herds show some trace of Jersey blood, while we have 
a large number composed of very high-grade animals headed by 
registered Jersey sires. In California the Jersey has prospered 
exceptionally, the mild climate and rich grasses of the State ap- 
proximating closely to those of the island home of the breed. The 
breed is in good hands in California, and it is destined to reach 
a high development here. Two Jersey societies are organized, and 
the breed is represented by a very large number of small but choice 
herds. But few large breeding herds exist in the hands of aggres- 
sive promoters, but the wide distribution of the breed and their 
adaptability to California conditions insure their maintaining 
their position. 

In Holstein cattle California is most prominent. 
Holsteins. Several of our most wealthy men early made fa- 
vorites of this great dairy breed, and their keen 
though friendly rivalry gave a great stimulus to heavy importa- 
tion. A few Holsteins were shown here in 1874, but not until 
about 1883 were they generally introduced. About that time 
many large herds were established here, most of which have since 
been disbursed and widely distributed. This breed is now liber- 
ally used in all parts of the State and is giving general satisfac- 
tion. They are used with particular success where alfalfa grows 
in abundance and upon the rich bottom lands, resembling those 
of Holland, lying along California's great river system. Several 
small herds of this great breed now exist here, while three large 
herds have been collected and established, of a character which 
will compare favorably with the best herds of this breed in the 
Eastern States. One of these herds particularly is said to be easily 
the best in the United States, and to contain more choice animals 
and high testing cows than any in this country. With the general 
introduction of irrigation and increase in population this breed 
will achieve a still wider popularity. 

A considerable change is destined to soon take place 
Future in the cattle conditions of California. Her mining, 

Conditions, grain-growing and fruit-producing industries have 
been largely developed, and she is now turning her 
attention to livestock-raising and mixed farming. Irrigation is 
being much more extensively resorted to, and alfalfa much more 
generally grown. This plant grows in California more perfectly 
probably than anywhere else in the United States. By reason of 
this incomparable crop, and because the climatic and other physi- 



DAIRY INDUSTRY OF CALIFORNIA. 131 

cal conditions here are unequaled, we can raise cattle as nowhere 
else, and our people are beginning to so realize. Our large hold- 
ings are being broken up into homesteads, our population is rap- 
idly increasing, and the day of the small farmer and farm-breeder 
is near at hand. When the grade of our cattle is raised by the use 
of pure-bred sires ; when attention is given to care, selection and 
breeding, we will grow cattle in California which will give us a 
distinction as unique as that which we have heretofore enjoyed by 
reason of our products of fruit and gold. Cattle so grown will 
constitute an outcross for Eastern herds. The climatic and physi- 
cal conditions are so different here, and with care and attention 
the type of our animals will be so perfect and their constitutions 
so sound, that the Eastern breeder, when seeking blood with 
which to strengthen and improve his herd, will look across the 
continent to California, instead of as now, across the ocean to the 
mother countries. 



DAIRY INDUSTRY OF CALIFORNIA, 



By ARTHUR R. BRIGGS, 
General Manager of the California State Board of Trade. 



The dairy industry of California is of all the first to give re- 
turns to new settlers, and is therefore entitled to first considera- 
tion by homeseekers. The impression prevails that there is much 
to learn in farming in California before one can hope to secure 
a comfortable living and enjoy the benefits which have been rep- 
resented to him as an inducement to come to this State; but with 
the opportunity for making a good living at the outset, such as 
is presented in dairy farming, the newcomer has time to make 
himself familiar with the new conditions, and enjoy a fair return 
for his labor while he is studying the methods of fruit-growing 
and other branches of farming. 

The State Board of Trade has occasion to answer almost daily, 
"How can a living be made the first year?" and, "What invest- 
ment is required for one to establish himself on a profitable basis 
in a new home?" The first question is already answered. The 
second can only be answered in a general way; but the following 
estimate of cost should enable the average man to reach a fairly 
correct conclusion of what is necessary : 

Forty acres of land, with water rights $2,000 

Buildings — house, barn, sheds, fences, etc 850 

Domestic animals — horses, etc 400 

Ten acres seeded to alfalfa the first year 100 

Trees and shrubs about house, and for family 

orchard, " etc 25 

Farming utensils and implements 75 

Total $3,450 



132 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

In the purchase of land it is not necessary to make the full pay- 
ment the first year. One-third payment, or say $650 to $700, is 
generally the rule, and the balance can be carried one, two or 
three years, in equal amounts, so that the actual cash outlay at 
first need not exceed the sum of $2,000 or $2,500. With this capi- 
tal the intelligent, industrious and economical farmer may safely 
establish a new home on forty acres of irrigated land in California. 

The dairy interest in California is both interesting and impor- 
tant — interesting by reason of its possibilities, and important from 
its present magnitude. Dairy farming in this State may be classi- 
fied into the following principal districts : The Humboldt district, 
which comprises Humboldt and Del Norte counties; the coast dis- 
trict, which comprises the coast counties, from INIendocino on the 
north to Santa Barbara on the south ;^ the Sacramento Valley 
district, which comprises the country north of Stockton to Shasta 
county; the mountain district, Avhicli comprises Lassen, Sierra, 
Plumas and Siskiyou counties; the San Joaquin Valley district, 
which comprises the territory from Stockton on the north to the 
Tehachapi range on the south; and the Southern California dis- 
trict, which includes all that part of the State south of the 
Tehachapi range. 

Conditions differ widely in these districts, and yet generally 
the quality of the butter produced is fairly maintained at the 
average high standard for which this State is famed. According 
to the last biennial report of the State Dairy Bureau the quantity 
of butter produced in 1902 was 31,528,762 pounds, representing 
a value of $7,541,729, of which 21,593,021 pounds were from 
creameries and 9,935,741 pounds from individual dairies; against 
28,678,439 pounds in 1897, of which 10,866,646 pounds were from 
creameries and 17,811,793 pounds from individual dairies. 

This illustrates the growth of the industry and the tendency of 
dairymen to operate through creameries, rather than attempt to 
compete with these institutions with butter made on the farm, 
which is not as uniform in quality nor as high in grade as the 
creamery product. 

One of the principal features of difference in the districts men- 
tioned is the character of feed. In the Humboldt district the in- 
dustry is about stationary, and the available range for cows is 
pretty well occupied. In this district there are about forty small 
creameries, and most of the butter in the district is manufactured 
by them. On the coast there are but few creameries. This dis- 
trict is not holding its own in butter-production, owing, for one 
thing, to the demand of San Francisco for milk, which is supplied 
from this source. The Sacramento Valley district is on the in- 
crease. Woodland, the vicinity of the Sacramento, and the re- 
claimed lands of the Sacramento river, are among the principal 
producing points in the State. The mountain district, though 
less important in point of quantity, holds its own. The San 
Joaquin Valley district exhibits rapid growth, the estimated gain 
being 30 to 33 per cent in 1903 as compared with 1902. Hero is 



DAIRY INDUSTRY OF CALIFORNIA. 133 

a wide area in alfalfa, and this is increasing largely from year to 
year. Dairy herds and dairy farming increase in like ratio. The 
southern district depends on cultivated crops and alfalfa for feed. 
The industry, as a whole, is well established on a profitable 
basis throughout the State, although it has not yet reached the 
limit of coast consumption. Taken as a whole, the industry now 
represents a value of upward of $18,000,000 annually. The State 
Board of Trade predicts that it will develop rapidly in the future 
until California will be shipping extensively toward Eastern 




A DAIRY HERD. 



markets, instead of standing in the list of dairy states as an 
importer. 

At certain times of the year, when local conditions favor it, 
large quantities of Eastern-made butter are shipped to the San 
Francisco market. This butter does not come up to the standard 
in quality of the California product, and is usually sold at prices 
slightly below the market for State product. Prices of butter 
in San Francisco are uniformly maintained on a higher basis than 
is obtainable for creamery butter in the Middle West. 

The tendency in butter-making is more and more to creameries, 
but there is a disposition to decrease rather than increase the num- 
ber of these factories. Experience seems to demonstrate the claims 
that large institutions can minimize the cost of butter-making, and 
that under good business management dairymen secure better re- 
sults than by making butter on the farms or working through 
small creameries. Centralization of the industry in the respective 



134 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

districts gives uniformity of quality, and to some extent prevents 
unprofitable competition in marketing the product. 

The largest creameries in the State are in Fresno, Los Angeles, 
Stanislaus, San Joaquin and Sacramento counties, with capacity 
ranging from about 325,000 to 900,000 pounds annually. The 
output of these institutions is capable of large increase without 
enlarging present manufacturing capacity. 

The quantity of cheese manufactured here for the year 1902, 
according to the report of the State Dairy Bureau, aggregated 
6,503,441 pounds, representing a value of $702,371. The dairy 
industry of California is largely in the hands of men who have 
been bred to the business— Danes, Swedes, Italian-Swiss and 
Portuguese. Americans control about one-half the dairies of the 
State. The business is open to all, and there is no reason why 
any class should be more successful than any other with equal 
intelligence and experience. Near Sacramento, San Jose and 
Fresno the business is largely in the hands of Americans. The 
number of American farmers in this branch is rapidly increas- 
ing, particularly in the irrigated districts, and where the dairy- 
men are owners of the land, not renters. Where the foreign 
element predominates they are generally renters. 

Dairy herds in California are being constantly improved. 
Shorthorns, Jerseys and Holsteins are most in favor. Alfalfa, 
which a few years ago was not regarded as suited to the making 
of high-class butter, is now recognized as the ideal grass for dairy 
stock, and the peculiar advantage a dairyman has in an alfalfa 
district is in the greater number of cows that can be maintained. 
On alfalfa fields the quantity of milk per cow is greater than under 
other conditions. While ten cows and their increase can be main- 
tained well on fifteen, at most twenty, acres of alfalfa the year 
around, ten acres of land are necessary to support a single cow 
where the native feed is used. On alfalfa feed cows well condi- 
tioned should give from 200 to 350 pounds of butter annually per 
head ; but where only native feed is had the return per cow ranges 
from 125 to 150 pounds. 

The matter of increase in calves is important. Dairies are re- 
newed from the young stock. The dairyman has his hogs, which 
are fed and raised on the skim-milk. These sources bring consid- 
erable additional revenue. Cows properly cared for will yield a 
return of from $5 to $7 a month each, or from $60 to $85 annually. 

The San Joaquin Ice Company at Fresno a few years ago se- 
cured a herd of high-bred cows, Holsteins and Jerseys, and in- 
augurated the policy of supplying them on lease contracts. Any 
farmer owning his farm, or who has made sufficient payment on 
a purchase of land, or invested enough in improvements to class 
him as a permanent settler, can, on application to the company, 
secure as many cows as he can properly care for, be it five or 
fifty. The purchase price is stated in the lease. The farmer has 
full possession and control, with the increase. He contracts to 
well care for the stock; to deliver all the cream or butter fat — 



POULTRY-RAISING IN CALIFORNIA. 135 

except what is necessary for home requirements — to the creamery, 
and to permit one-half the monthly returns to be applied as part 
payment on the contract. From actual experience it is shown that 
the majority of cows put out on lease are fully paid for in two 
years. The farmer has his monthly income, amounting to one-half 
the yield from the cows, all the increase and the hogs he has been 
able to support meantime. 

With ordinary care cows are profitable for dairy purposes until 
they are from ten to twelve years old, and can then be fattened 
and sold for beef. 

This industry affords wide opportunity for men of moderate 
as well as men of large means. The dairyman who delivers the 
product of five cows to the creamery stands on exactly the same 
footing as to price and other conditions as one who has fifty or 
one hundred cows. In this business there is no partiality or prefer- 
ence. The farmer has success in his own hands, and the measure 
of that success is his industry, economy and business capacity. 



POULTRY^RAISING IN CALIFORNIA. 



By L. C. BYCE, 
President of the Petaluma Incubator Company. 



In the early days of California following the gold excitement, 
a family which constituted part of an emigrant train that crossed 
the plains brought with them, in addition to horses and cattle, a 
few hens. The latter, while en route, were allowed their freedom 
in the evening, after the party had struck camp, and later on aa 
the hens settled upon the wheels of the wagons or other suitable 
place to roost for the night, were carefully tucked away in their 
coops, only to have this repeated over and over again. Arriving 
at a California mining-camp every evidence of civilization, in- 
cluding the chickens, was welcomed. A good flock of hens at the 
time above referred to would have been equal to a gold mine, for 
the family owning these hens found ready sale for every egg at 
almost fabulous prices, as high as $6 in gold dust being paid for a 
single egg. 

The luring sight of gold and its quest soon caused the chickeni 
to be forgotten, and but few people interested themselves, and 
then only in a small way, until in the seventies. Previously no 
thought seemed to be given to the poultry business as a commer- 
cial proposition or as a means of livelihood, although late years 
have fully demonstrated that golden opportunities were lost. The 
writer, who was also engaged in perfecting a system of artificial 
incubation, imported from many of the Eastern poultry yardj 



136 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

large quantities of fowls, disposing of them in small numbers, 
which became widely scattered, and by encouraging those of limited 
or small means there has grown up a business of such magnitude 
as to be almost beyond the conception of the person hearing of it 
for the first time. 

Immediately surrounding Petaluma there are over one million 
laying hens, making it the greatest poultry section of the world. 
Other places in the southern, middle, and northern parts of the 
State are very rapidly coming into prominence as poultry sections. 
The valleys of California that are well sheltered by the mountains 
and have an abundance of good water are admirably adapted to 
poultry-raising, and on account of conditions the smaller valleys 
are the best adapted. The growth has been enormous during the 
past decade. Hundreds of families of limited means have ac- 
quired small places and engaged in the poultry business, and are 




POULTBY FARM OF THREE THOUSAND HENS. 

not only realizing a fine livelihood, but many have bank accounts 
of no mean proportions. 

The prospects for success are more promising than in the East 
or northern latitudes, for the climat( precludes the necessity of 
extremely warm housing; hens run -ut every day in the year, 
hence have free and unlimited exercise; snow in the valleys is a 
phenomenon; the rains of our winters are beneficial to the fowls 
rather than a detriment to them, for it is then that vegetation is 
at its height. 

Prices obtained for eggs and poultry average high, and although 
many are engaged in the business yet there is room for hundreds 
more, for the home production meets but little more than half the 
demand, and at the rapid rate at which California's population 
is being increased the demand for poultry and eggs is also increas- 
ing. Several hundred carloads of eggs and live poultry are sent 
from points in the Western States to the Pacific Coast marlvets 
during a year, usually to San Francisco and Los Angeles, to make 
up for the large deficiency in home production. 

One peculiar and withal very desirable feature of poultry-raising 
in California is that large numbers of fowls may be allowed to 
roam together in perfect health without fear of disease being con- 
tracted. Such conditions in any other part of the world invariably 



POULTRY-RAISING IN CALIFORNIA. 



137 



mean disaster to the flock, and this is another feature which greatly 
adds to the profit side of the poultryman 's account. Some of the 
valleys present the appearance of one vast poultry farm, and upon 
ascending a prominence overlooking the same a scene is presented 
that would make an Eastern friend realize at a glance what su- 
perior advantages are possessed by the California poultrymen. A 
soil unequaled, a climate unapproached ; the best and purest water 
in nmnerous places running down from the mountain sides; a 
sunshine warm and invigorating, but never too hot; natural green 
feed the year around, and with no cold or rigorous winters, neces- 
sitating specially constructed and oftentimes artificially warmed 
poultry houses — is it any wonder that California is fast becoming 
known as the poultryman 's paradise? 

One will naturally ask, Is it possible for any person to make a 
failure under all the favorable conditions? To which we answer 



S?3fci?4#- 







i^-v_.J&^<*6iji 




WHITE LEGHORNS. 

in all sincerity and truthfulness, Yes, there are failures, by those 
who have sought this line of business on the ground that "any 
one can raise chickens," and having failed in everything else tries 
the one business of all which any one can conduct, according to 
his statement, and fails, because instead of managing it right, mis- 
manages as he has done in other lines, while his neighbor with the 
same class of fowls and on similar land and in the same glorious 
climate, and using the feed that the market affords, continues to 
swell his bank account. 

While the majority of those engaged in the poultry business keep 
flocks of hens for laying purposes (and the White Leghorn variety 
is used almost exclusively), there are others near the cities devot- 
ing their energies to duck-raising, while others in the interior 
where there is plenty of range raise turkeys in immense numbers, 
so that boys or men herd them during the day, much as a shepherd 
does his sheep. The writer has seen a flock of twelve hundred 
turkeys in charge of a boy with saddle pony and dog, and has- 
been told of many larger flocks in the Sacramento and San Joaquin 
valleys. A very extensive duck-raiser near San Francisco in- 
formed me that during eleven months of last year he hatched and 
got ready for market 49,800 ducks and 1,485 chickens, and sold 



138 



CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 



off the ducks at eight and ten weeks of age, 10,000 at $1 each to 
the Chinese population, while the others brought from $6 per 
dozen to occasionally $12. 

Here are also figures given by some who are conducting the 
poultry business in only a limited way. One man reports the 
following : 

"I send you the result of a single year's work with 296 hens. 
Eggs and broilers sold, $1,110.12; gross cost of feed, $195.35; net, 
$918.76. Have had the hens divided into two yards, occupying 
about five acres of ground." 

Another man reports as follows: "From a flock of 500 hens 
I have sold 3,723 dozen eggs, averaging Siy^ cents per dozen, 
$1,170.98; 145 broilers at 421/2 cents each, $6f.35; 200 pullets at 




SMALL POULTRY FARMS WITHIN CITY LIMITS OF PETALUMA. 

50 cents each, $100.00; total, $1,332.33, from which deduct for feed 
of various kinds, $400.00, leaving a net profit of $932.33." 

Hundreds of such instances as these could be given, but it is 
always safe to estimate on what the average person is making. It 
is placing a very low estimate to say that any person can count 
on a net profit of $1 per hen per annum ; in fact, the writer does 
not know of any one who is not doing better than this. 

From a recent issue of a San Francisco paper, the Pacific Rural 
Press, the following is taken : ' ' That truth is stronger than fic- 
tion is deeply impressed on the judicious observer who visits Peta- 
luma for the first time and takes note of the wonderful magnitude 
of the poultry industry. Twenty-six years ago Mr. L. C. Byce, 
now President of the Petaluma Incubator Company, settled in the 
quiet country village up the creek and determined to make it the 
greatest poultry center in the world. Working alone at the car- 
penter's bench he began the manufacture of incubators which have 
now become so justly famous. At that time there were few fowls 
in the State, but Mr. Byce's dream has been realized. The entire 



THE HONEY INDUSTRY OF CALIFORNIA. 139 

country surrounding Petaluma teems with chickens, nearly all 
White Leghorns. The 'ranches' are small, usually consisting of 
five- and ten-acre tracts. The number of fowls owned by each 
farmer ranges from 500 to 8,000. Climate, soil, locality, price of 
feed and access to market, all contribute to the success of the in- 
dustry, and hundreds of men are establishing themselves on little 
ranches, with the assurance that financial independence waits on 
intelligent management, industry, cleanliness, and perseverance." 

One might infer from the above that a man can keep 8,000 fowls 
on a piece of land not to exceed ten acres; such, however, is not 
the case. All of the poultrymen in the vicinity of Petaluma who 
keep from 5,000 to 8,000 iowls have from 200 to 300 acres of land, 
on which the fowls roam at large, the colony system being em- 
ployed; but there are those in other parts of the State employing 
the yard system, who keep large numbers of fowls on a small piece 
of ground. Each plan has its advocates, and there are many who 
are making good money on both plans. It is not so much the sys- 
tem as the ability of the man to handle the business. 

Much has been said and written on the poultry industry of Cali- 
fornia, of the wonderful adaptability of soil and climate to the 
successful and profitable conduct of the business, and although 
hundreds of people have been attracted to the State to engage in 
poultry-raising, yet the output comes so far short of meeting the 
demand that there is room for hundreds more. San Francisco is 
of course the leading market, but in many other sections the local 
market, owing to existing conditions, is as good as that of San 
Francisco. The large number of vessels engaged in the trans- 
pacific trade leaving the port of San Francisco; the demands of 
the various and almost innumerable mining and lumber camps; 
the endless summer and vacation houses, and the monster hotels 
for tourists, all require enormous quantities of poultry and eggs, 
and California poultry-raisers must either produce the same or con- 
sumers will still have to look to the Western States to furnish them. 
It does not require much thought or investigation of the subject 
to determine how much more preferable is the fresh California 
product, and that should point the moral that there is room for 
more producers. 



THE HONEY INDUSTRY IN CALIFORNIA. 



By GEORGE L. EMERSON. 



Bee-keeping and honey-making in California differ materially 
from the same vocation elsewhere. The man who does not have two 
hundred stands or more is scarcely recognized as an apiarist; and 
when they speak of honey it is nearly always in tons rather than 
in pounds. There are a good many men in the southern part of 
the State who care for five hundred colonies or over; that is, they 



140 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

do the expert work and their assistants take care of that part 
which can be left to those of less experience. 

It is counted that a good apiarist can do all the work for two 
hundred stands of bees; while the same man, with the help of a 
green hand for two months, will manage about three hundred 
stands. Mr. Mendleson of Ventura handles fifteen hundred and 
sixty colonies with hired help, and makes both comb and extracted 
honey. Mr. Mercer, also of Ventura, cares for twelve hundred 
colonies, with the assistance of two men during the busy season. 
But few men could hope to attain the knowledge necessary to care 
for so many bees. 

Southern California is literally the home of the bee. They can 
be found in the trees, rocks, houses, and even have been known 
to build in the branches of the orange tree exposed to the open 
air and there store in the summer under those conditions quite a 
number of pounds of surplus. Houses are favorite haunts, espe- 
cially school houses and churches. They will go into the roof 
through the shingles, or around the windows they may find access 
to space between the studding; or perhaps they may find a way to 
the inside of the cornice, and even the chimneys — these they often 
choke up with honey until smoke refuses to take its wonted passage. 

During a good season all these wild bees swarm repeatedly, and 
the consequence is that they are found in all likely and unlikely 
places. It is a common thing for a man who knov/s how and is 
willing to spend time to shake sueh swarms into a box to gather 
anywhere from twenty-five to one hundred swarms in a single 
summer. These bees are generally hived in anything that comes 
handy. I have bought them myself in anything from a bureau- 
drawer to a sugar-barrel, the prices ranging from 50 cents to $3 in 
hives. Bees in hives suitably located sell at from $3 to $5 per 
stand, and if the man is an experienced bee-keeper it pays to buy 
them in this condition ; but if he is short of money he can gradu- 
ally work into the business by making his own hives, buying cheap 
bees, and transferring them, catching stray swarms and taking 
them out of buildings, etc. 

The writer and his brother own one thousand stands of bees, 
located in eight modern apiaries. Two years ago we produced 
sixty-five tons of extracted honey; last year we got forty-five tons. 
Taking the two years together I do not think that they could be 
considered better than average years. This would make an aver- 
age of fifty-five tons per year. The honey sold at from 4^/2 to 6I/2 
cents per pound, according to grade and market, but for conven- 
ience let us say the price M'as 5 cents, or $100 per ton, which is 
$5,500 per year. Two thousand dollars will cover the total ex- 
pense. This leaves $3,500 net, and five months in Avhich there is 
practically nothing to do except visit the apiaries once a month 
and see if everything is all right. We have not spent more than 
an hour's time a month at each apiary during the past winter, 
or from the first of October to the first of March, and our bees 
wintered splendidly. 



THE HONEY INDUSTRY OF CALIFORNIA. 141 

There are some men who produce comb honey exclusively. 
Others produce both comb and extracted honey, while the majority 
prefer to handle only the extracted. I believe this to be a question 
for each man to settle for himself, as there are many different 
things to consider; but one thing is certain — it does not pay for 
any one to produce poor comb honey. The cost of production is 
equal to, if not more than, if it had been made when there was 
a good flow of honey, while the selling price may be reduced to 
one-half what a fine white comb of full weight will bring. In the 
extracted it does not vary so much. The extremes are not more 
than two cents per pound on the same market. 

Some of the readers of this article may want to know about the 
flora to which we look to furnish feed for our bees. There are so 
many varieties of honey-producing plants and trees that space 
will not permit of a description or even the mention of all of 
them. Some of the most prominent are the black, white, and 
purple sages. [We claim that the black, or button sage, as it is 
sometimes called, makes the finest honey in the world.] Wild 
buckwheat, wild and cultivated alfalfa, also some of the immense 
bean-fields, furnish many tons of white honey for our bees. There 
are so many varieties of honey-producing shrubs that the ordinary 
bee man simply says of a certain one when he sees it, "Yes, that 
is all right, my bees work it," and never thinks of trying to find 
out the names of them all. 

Among the trees the orange and eucalyptus are most valued, 
but the greater portion of plants and trees in this ijart of the 
country have some kind of a flower and the bees will work them 
according to their value compared to other flowers out at the same 
time. The black sage not only produces the best honey, but under 
favorable circumstances the flow is so heavy that bees will not 
touch anything else while it is at its height. I have seen an apiary 
of three hundred stands, in ten-frame Langstroth hives, fill every 
available space in four days and cap it solid. This shows how 
heavy-bodied it was when gathered, for ordinary honey has to 
stand in the combs a number of days before it is ripe enough to 
cap. This same honey was so white that you could not, while 
standing off a few feet, tell the difference between a tumbler full 
of it and another of water. We have kept it for four years in a 
Mason jar without sealing, and it did not granulate. When Cali- 
fornia has a really large crop, that is the kind of honey that per- 
haps one-half of it will be, while the rest will either come from 
other flowers or be mixed with them enough to make a decided 
change in color and flavor. 

We roughly estimate that California can produce five hundred 
cars of fifteen tons each in a good season. This was done years 
ago, while we now have more bee-keepers and better ones, more 
bees and better facilities for handling them; and yet I prophesy 
that in a few years we will look back and see how small we were 
at this time ; for there are unlimited acres of mountainous terri- 
tory in this great State covered with a jungle of tangled shrubbery 



142 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

(that can only be penetrated by the smaller animals) that breaks 
out into a profusion of bloom that is enough to gladden the heart 
of any lover of nature in its wild and unfrequented state; while 
it will certainly not only put the bees within its reach, but the bee- 
keepers themselves, to swarming. 

My friends, the Eastern bee-keepers, if you are tired of chaff 
hives, or cellar wintering, or shoveling snow to get a path to the 
road— of working six months to prepare a living chance for the 
winter— follow the path and advice of thousands of others and 
come to a climate where bees have been known to swarm every 
month in the year; where the roses bloom in the winter and the 
children run barefooted all the year round. There is plenty of 
room for more, even if we are the largest producers of honey in 
the Union, and the chances are better now than ever before, for we 
have the California National Honey-Producers' Association to buy 
our supplies at the cheapest, sell our honey on a favorable market, 
and protect our interests at large. 



THE BEET^SUGAR INDUSTRY OF CALIFORNIA. 



Bt JAMES M. TAYLOR, 
Manager Spreckels Sugar Company, Spreckels, Cal. 



About the middle of the last century, fresh from a careful study 
of the conditions contributing to the successful growth of the 
beet-sugar industry in continental Europe, David L. Child, of 
Connecticut, made the first commercial attempt in the United 
States to manufacture sugar from the beet root. His efforts were 
met with a measure of success, and obtained for him a silver medal 
from the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association, which 
pronounced his product as "well made, dry and of good grain," 
and ' ' equal to sugar obtained from cane. ' ' 

From this small beginning an industry has arisen which ranks 
in importance with the great industries of the day. This initial 
undertaking quickly took hold upon the public mind, and resulted 
in efforts conducted on broader lines, until we now have fifty- 
three operating beet-sugar factories, located in different states of 
the Union, with a capacity for working 42,000 tons of beets and 
producing approximately 5,000 tons of sugar per day, and which 
actually produced 233,100 tons of sugar during the season of 1903. 

The beet-sugar industry of this country owes its immediate suc- 
cess to the pioneer effort of 1888, when Claus Spreckels built the 
plant at Watsonville, California. Nor was it alone the factory, 
built and equipped to the last degree in conformity with the best 
methods followed in Europe, that made possible the success of the 



THE BEET-SUGAR INDUSTRY OF CALIFORNIA. 



143 



venture. Our soil and sunshine, our cool nights and warm days, 
our assurance of rain when needed, and of no rain when not 
needed; in a word, those great fundamental requirements, par- 
ticularly in this branch of industry, became at once the potential 
contributors to its success. 

The Pajaro valley, in which this first large success in the manu- 
facture of beet sugar was achieved, represents a small section of 
country in the counties of Santa Cruz and Monterey. It is open 
to the bay of Monterey on the west, from which it derives the 
greatest benefits from the heavy summer fogs, supplementing an 
assured winter rainfall, and is otherwise inclosed by a low range 
of hills, and comprises in the aggregate less than 65,000 acres, 





-.s?:^'^- - ^,^tH^-. " - %i>»- -^ -'■'&.. r'T''^ -v'^ 



SUGAR-BEET FIELD AND P'ACTORY, SALINAS. 

with about 6,000 acres of fine sedimentary soil, which has gradu- 
ally been planted to beets. The surrounding valleys early took 
on the spirit of the new industry, and while the factory was 
operated, contributed to its success. But more than all, it estab-' 
lished the farmer on a new line of husbandry, which has proven 
far more profitable than any of the other crops adapted to our soil 
and climate. 

The success achieved here awakened an interest in other dis- 
tricts, even to the extreme southerly portion of the State, and all 
efforts to this one end have only served to confirm the opinions of 
soil experts, that the fundamental requirements for the successful 
raising of the beet root have been lavishly provided in California 
by generous Mother Nature. Except in the interior valleys, where 
the heat of summer has proven too great for the tender young 



144 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

plant, it may be stated that nearly every locality influenced by 
the sea breezes to check too rapid growth, and having the proper 
quality of soil, is adapted to the growth of the sugar beet. This 
is abundantly proven in the development of the industry in this 
State. 

Following the venture at Watsonville, the Alameda Sugar Com- 
pany, having a plant of a daily capacity for working several hun- 
dred tons of beets, reorganized and rebuilt on a larger scale its 
factory located at Alvarado, in Alameda county, also near to tide 
water, and influenced also by the same general climatic conditions 
as are to be found in the Pajaro valley, which was followed closely 
in the order of construction by several other plants, as will be noted 
by the following list: In 1891 at Chino, having a capacity of 750 
tons of beets per day; in 1898 at Oxnard, with a capacity of 2,000 
tons per day; [both of these plants belong to the American Beet 
Sugar Company and are located in districts having great natural 
advantages of soil and climate, generally yielding satisfactory re- 
turns in the operating season;] in 1897 at Los Alamitos, having a 
capacity of 700 tons per day, and owned by United States Senator 
W. A. Clark; in 1899 at Betteravia, having a capacity of 500 tons 
per day, and owned by the Union Sugar Company. 

The plant first in order as to capacity, and which sheds such 
renown on the name, was constructed in 1897, in the lower end of 
the Salinas valley, near Salinas, the county seat of Monterey 
county, by Claus Spreckels, under the corporate name of Spreckels 
Sugar Company. It was not intended in this article to indulge 
in remarks having a specific reference to the efforts of any one 
of the several successfully conducted plants of this State, but it 
is impossible to convey an adequate idea of the industry except by 
individualizing to some extent, and the indulgence of the reader 
is asked that a better understanding may be arrived at. 

The plant of the Spreckels Sugar Company, which is the larg- 
est in the world with one exception, and that one in Belgium, was 
intended to meet all the necessities for both the present and the 
future of the entire section of the State where it is located; hence 
was built to operate by units, thus meeting the varying agricul- 
tural conditions of the section from year to year. Its capacity 
may be increased, at a very moderate cost, to 4,000 tons of beets 
per day. To perform this great task the most elaborate prepara- 
tions have been made to insure the company from loss during the 
'period of operation, by the installation in duplicate of practically 
all the machinery -of the entire plant. The necessity of this will 
readily be understood when it is realized that the sugar beet has 
practically no keeping qualities, but is rendered unfit for milling 
in from ten to fifteen days after harvesting if allowed to lie ex- 
posed to the sun and weather. 

To supply this factory with the necessary quantity of beets to 
keep it in continuous operation during what is known as the ' ' cam- 
paign" requires the product of from 25,000 to 30,000 acres of land, 
furnishing employment in the work of producing the crop alone to 
from 2,500 to 4,000 men. 



THE BEET-SUGAR INDUSTRY OP CALIFORNIA. 145 

Experience has proven that the preparation of the soil for the 
successful cultivation of the beet root, while requiring special 
care in reducing the ground to proper tilth, not only improves 
the conditions bearing on the ultimate success of the crop in ques- 
tion, but in rotation with beans, potatoes, or even grain there is 
a large gain to each crop. This demonstrates that the most careful 
preparation of the soil is a prerequisite of success, a fundamental 
requirement in order to insure the largest returns. In support 
of this it need only be said that it is probably within the range of 
experience and observation of the management of every beet-sugar 
factory in our country that many farmers obtain only six or eight 
tons of beets per acre, as against others realizing a crop of from 
fifteen to twenty tons per acre, when the soil and climatic condi- 
tions appear to be identical; the cause for the difference in the 
yield being largely, if not entirely, due to the degree of attention 
given to the proper preparation of the soil for seeding. 

The conditions to be met with in our State, governing the move- 
ments of the farmer, are also large factors bearing on the ultimate 
success of the beet crop. Situated as we are, climatically, we are 
reasonably certain of enough moisture in the soil from precipita- 
tion during the months of November to March inclusive to insure 
a good crop. To meet those conditions which are likewise found 
in all sections in the West where the cultivation of the beet root is 
successfully carried on, irrigation is resorted to, however, in a sup- 
plemental way, in order to insure the meeting of the moisture in 
the soil, which in California has been found not only of great 
value, but of prime importance, for the proper growth and de- 
velopment of the beet; and it may be stated as a recognized prin- 
ciple, that the sugar industry of this State must ultimately be 
conducted in localities and along lines where winter irrigation in 
the preparation of the soil for the next following crop must be 
followed. 

The cultivation of the sugar beet as an industry in contradis- 
tinction to the beet-sugar industry— the one pertaining to and 
interesting primarily the farmer, while the other, being especially 
the work of the company which has invested its money in a factory, 
becomes at once a field of fine possibility in the realization of their 
hopes for profitable husbandry.' The State affords many oppor- 
tunities for that class of men engaged in agricultural pursuits who 
realize that he wins "who waits and watches, and who always 
works. ' ' 

The cordial co-operation between the management and the 
grower or beet farmer is another point wherein the farmer and 
the factory alike realize their highest expectations. Their in- 
terests are mutual, their efforts should be identical, the sentiment 
of accord and fraternal exchange of views, opinions and experi- 
ences contribute alike to the success of each, and it may be stated 
as a necessary corollary that on the success of the farmer depends 
to a large degree the success of the factory operations. 

The industry both as to the interest of the farmer and as to 

10 



146 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

that of the manufacturers has been so firmly grounded that all 
doubt as to the future has disappeared, and this alone offers an 
unusual inducement to those from other states, who, in looking 
for a field of profitable farming, can not fail in their efforts for 
success if a right selection of land is made in any of the districts 
now engaging the attention of beet-sugar manufacturers. It must 
be borne in mind, however, that the closest study of the condi- 
tions is necessary, and then the application of thought and intelli- 
gent labor, to make their efforts a success. To all such California 
offers fine inducements, and all would be welcomed. 



COMMERCE AND COMMERCIAL RELATIONS 

OF CALIFORNIA. 



By JAMES D. PHELAN. 



California has more than seven hundred miles of seacoast, and, 
with Washington and Oregon, represents, in a broad sense, the 
United States upon the greatest of the world's oceans. Surpris- 
ing developments during the last few years have turned the eyes 
of the people from the land to the sea, and now the influence of 
the United States is speeding its way across an ocean which, like 
the Rocky mountains sixty years ago, was regarded as a barrier 
beyond which the activities of the republic would not go. In 
fact, Daniel Webster opposed the admission of California as a 
state as late as 1850 on the ground of its remoteness and inacces- 
sibility, and Seward, the expansionist, answered him that, if it 
were not admitted, it was capable of becoming and would become 
an independent empire. Subsequently, Webster admitted his mis- 
take and said he would rather own a town lot in San Francisco 
than a farm in Massachusetts. 

The westward movement was, however, irrepressible, and the 
romance of the situation seems to be that it was foreordained and 
that statesmen and soldiers are merely the unconscious instru- 
ments to carry out the predestined course of civilization. Be- 
ginning in Asia Minor, civilization has constantly moved west- 
ward, first to Egypt, to Greece, to Italy and to Spain, covering 
the Mediterranean with ships and enriching every land with com- 
merce; then it passed on to France and Germany, Great Britain 
and Ireland, crossed the Atlantic, penetrated the forests and the 
prairies, and finally reached the Pacific Ocean, and the twentieth 
century should see the orbit completed. The same civilizing power 
shall ultimately embrace Japan and all Asia. As the Atlantic su- 
perseded the Mediterranean, so the Pacific is fast taking the place 
of the Atlantic, and the shores it serves are far more populous. 



COMMERCE AND COMMERCIAL RELATIONS. 



147 



William H. Seward, possessed of the keen vision which led him 
to acquire Alaska in 1867, predicted this marvelous change. He 
wrote : ' ' Henceforth, European commerce, European politics, 
European thought, European activity, although actually gaining 
force, and European connections, although actually becoming more 
intimate, will nevertheless relatively sink in importance, while the 
Pacific Ocean, its shores, its islands and the vast regions beyond 
will become the chief theater of events in the world's great 
hereafter. ' ' 

Nearly two-thirds of the population of the earth live in the lands 
washed by the Pacific. The growing foreign trade of Asia alone 
is valued at two billion dollars annually, and this is the trade for 




BOUND FOB THE ORIENT. 



which the nations of the world are struggling. The commercial 
supremacy of the Pacific is the engrossing question of the new 
century. 

China contains within its vast area gold, silver, coal and rich agri- 
cultural lands awaiting intelligent industry for their development. 
Russia has pierced the continent with its trans-Siberian railroad 
and created, as in a night, cities and entrepots. Japan has already 
shown every evidence of its willingness and capacity to rank in 
enterprise and accomplishment with the other civilized powers. 
The Hawaiian and the Philippine islands have awakened from 
their dream of ages, and are making abundant contribution to the 
world's trade. The mines of Alaska are yielding up the treasures 
BO long hidden from the sight of man, and the growth at our own 



148 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

Pacific coast has taken its place, in the variety and volume of its 
mineral, agricultural and horticultural productiveness, among the 
wonderful events of the closing days of the nineteenth century. 
And now, with the beginning of the new century, the United States 
has taken up the world work, at which others have failed — the 
building of the Panama canal; and, it has the money and the men 
with which to complete it within eight or ten years' time. From 
these facts, it will appear that the commerce and the commercial 
relations of California constitute a subject of increased interest, 
and that this fair country, with the most productive of nations be- 
hind and the greatest of oceans before it, is destined to become the 
center of a mighty empire in all that constitutes commerce and 
trade and in all that makes for science and art. 

The beginnings of commerce in California were very primitive. 
The Spanish navigators, lured by stories of fabulous wealth, sailed 
up the coast from Mexico, but found little or nothing to justify 
their ventures. Later, Sir Francis Drake visited the Californian 
coast and beached his "Goulden Hinde" for repairs just outside 
the Golden Gate, of which he had no knowledge ; nor did he discover 
San Francisco bay, which was reserved for subsequent discov- 
ery, nearly two hundred years later, by the Spanish missionaries 
from the land. Cabrillo discovered the Californian coast in 1542. 
Drake anchored off the coast in 1579, and Portala and party beheld 
San Francisco bay in 1769. 

The next interesting record was Richard H. Dana's "Two Years 
Before the Mast," wherein he describes the trade in hides and 
tallow between San Francisco and Boston. Then, in 1848, followed 
the discovery of gold, which brought a brilliant company of ad- 
venturous men to California, who laid the foundation for the State. 
Mining and subsequently agriculture and horticulture prospered 
side by side, and in 1867 the Central Pacific Railroad divided the 
business of transportation with the steamers which by the Panama 
route had served this coast, and the sailing vessels which rounded 
the "Horn" had begun to carry to Europe cargoes of California 
wheat, a cereal ranking in the markets of the world as of first 
quality. The banner year for wheat exportation was 1882, when 
22,279,000 centals, valued at $36,000,000, were shipped. 

The discovery of gold in the Klondike, the acquisition of Hawaii 
and the Philippines, and the stirring events on the Asiatic coast 
opened the sea to the trade and commerce of California, and fleets 
of ocean steamers have been commissioned to meet the demands of 
the growing trade. The Government maintains a transport service, 
and fine steamers regularly come and go on Government business 
between San Francisco and Honolulu, Guam and Manila. The 
Pacific INIail Steamship Company has six steamers for the Oriental 
service. The Toya Kisen Kaisha, a Japanese line, has three 
modern vessels, at this writing temporarily withdrawn on account 
of the war. The Occidental and Oriental Steamship Company has 
three steamships regularly on the route. These ships run to Tahiti 
and the other islands of the Pacific; and the Oceanic Steamship 



COMMERCE AND COMMERCIAL RELATIONS. 149 

Company maintains service between this country and Hawaii and 
Australia. The Kosmos line of steamers gives monthly service to 
Europe via South and Central American ports, and the Pacific 
Coast Steamship Company serves the Pacific seaboard. The new 
steamers are of the fastest t}^e, and the latest, the Korea and the 
Siberia of the Pacific IMail, each measure 572 feet in length, and the 
Mongolia and Manchuria measure 600 feet in length. These steam- 
ers can make the trip across the Pacific from San Francisco to 
Yokohama, 4,720 miles, in ten days; and from Yokohama to Hong 
Kong, 1,620 miles, in three and one-half days; and to Manila, 642 
miles farther, requires another day and a half. 

Wliile many of these steamers have been built in the East, owing 
among other reasons to the crowded condition of San Francisco 
yards, it may be stated incidentally that shipbuilding in California 
is a prominent and growing industry, and many large ocean-going 
steamers have been constructed for commercial service during re- 
cent years; but the triumph of the shipbuilding art may be found 
in the formidable fleet given to the sea by the Union Iron Works 
of San Francisco in the cruisers, gunboats and battleships, many 
of which are known to fame, such as the Charleston, San Fran- 
cisco, ]\Ionterey, Olympia, Marietta, Wheeling, Farragut, Wis- 
consin, Wyoming, Perry, Preble, Paul Jones, Grampus, Tacoma, 
Pike, Ohio, California, and above all, the matchless Oregon, Avhich 
made the race from Puget sound, around the Horn, in the face 
of the enemy, and arrived before Santiago ready to engage in the 
action of July 4, 1898. The Chitose, a Japanese cruiser recently 
mentioned for brilliant service in the Japanese war, is also a prod- 
uct of this yard. Besides these, sailing vessels have been built, 
averaging about twenty a year since 1887 ; and steam vessels aver- 
aging more than that per year during the same period have been 
constructed in San Francisco bay. 

On the Atlantic seaboard there are numerous harbors, but on 
the Pacific littoral there are practically only five or six harbors 
adapted to the requirements for large shipping operations, namely, 
San Francisco, San Diego, San Pedro and Eureka, in California, 
and the Columbia river and Puget sound. San Francisco bay, of 
course, is the principal one. It is the most spacious and best pro- 
tected harbor on the coast, and its central position makes it most 
advantageous for coastwise and Oriental trade. It is thoroughly 
well fortified by modern guns and is equipped by two dry-docks, 
privately owned, one having a capacity for the largest vessels afloat ; 
and two stone dry-docks, belonging to the Government, are located 
at Mare Island Na\y Yard in San Francisco bay, and there are 
besides floating docks, well adapted to sailing vessels and smaller 
craft. Ships can anchor safely in almost any part of the 460 square 
miles constituting the bay of San Francisco. 

San Diego harbor is also landlocked and is well adapted for 
ocean commerce. The bay is 13 miles long and has an area 
of 22 square miles, with an available anchorage of 6 
square miles. The Government is now dredging tlit' harbor to a 



150 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. ^ 

depth of 30 feet and extending a jetty to 7,500 feet. The 
Pacific Coast Steamship Company's steamers touch at San Diego, 
and lumber craft and colliers ply between this and other ports. 
Steamers of the Kosmos line and of the Hawaiian-American line 
visit this harbor. The value of imports for eleven months ending 
November 30, 1903, amounted to $459,856, with an export value of 
$311,924. The amount of duty collected during the same time was 
$63,704. The principal articles imported were cement, coal, Mexi- 
can onyx, cattle, guano, copper ore and pig iron. Total tonnage for 
the year, 260 steam vessels (238,566 tons), and 115 sailing vessels 
(38,909 tons). 

The Government is now enlarging the natural harbor of San 
Pedro by constructing a great breakwater. This is the port of Los 
Angeles. Los Angeles also has the harbors of Santa Monica and 
Redondo. 

Eureka is the shipping point for the lumber of Northern Cali- 
fornia. Its shipyards build $2,000,000 worth of ocean tonnage each 
year. As an example, Humboldt county shipped in shingles 697,- 
533,000 and in shakes 17,939,000, and of nearly a million dollars in 
value, or over 34,000,000 feet of redwood lumber was shipped 
from the same port in 1903. Vessels sailing from Eureka to all 
foreign ports for that year showed that in forty cargoes there was 
a net tonnage of 36,000, carrying total board feet of 21,201,000. ■ 

In this connection it may be interesting to state that the total 
lumber product of California for 1903 is estimated at 792,000,000 
feet. The arrivals of pine, spruce and fir at the port of San Fran- 
cisco for 1903 amounted to 366,653,000 feet. 

But the shipping statistics of the port of San Francisco are 
necessarily more typical of California than the shipping from 
minor ports. In a representative year, 1902, the clearances from 
San Francisco by sea showed: Flour, 1,188,884 pounds; wheat, 
8,237,782 centals; besides oats, corn and rye among the cereals. 
The receipts for the same year were: Flour, 6,974,000 qr. sacks; 
wheat, 9,120,000 centals; barley, 5,943,000 centals; besides oats, 
corn, rye, beans, potatoes and other products. 

Over one million barrels of flour passed out through the Golden 
Gate during 1903, and in return therefor over $4,000,000 was 
realized. Wheat and barley exports from San Francisco during 
1903 are in excess of $7,500,000. The total value of dairy products 
for the year is estimated at $16,000,000. The value of the manu- 
factures of San Francisco in 1903 was $150,000,000. A brief sum- 
mary of California products will show the articles which may be 
exchanged in the markets of the world. 

In 1902, the mineral production represented a total value of 
$35,069,000. Almost every mineral was represented, and more 
particularly, and in the order named, gold, petroleum, copper, 
borax, quicksilver, brick clay, silver, lime, macadam, asbestos, 
granite, sandstone, slate, etc. 

The crop of sugar beets for 1903, estimated at 620,000 tons, 
yielded 77,000 tons of sugar; hops, 47,000 bales, or 9,310,000 



COMMERCE AND COMMERCIAL RELATIONS. 151 

pounds. Wool products amounted to 22,000,000 pounds; honey, 
3,650,000 pounds. In the year 1902, 19,180 carloads of citriu 
fruits were shipped, equal to 6,904,000 pounds. The California 
raisin crop for 1902 was 108,000,000 pounds; of prunes, 115,- 
000,000 pounds ; and other dried fruits were as follows : peaches, 
50,000,000 pounds; apricots, 37,000,000 pounds; apples, 9,000,000 
pounds, and so on as to pears, plums, nectarines, grapes and figs. 
In 1902 there were 7,141 cars of fresh and deciduous fruits shipped 
out of the State. All the shippers have agreed in maintaining a 
distributing agency at Sacramento, whence the cars are shipped by 
a manager according to the demands of outside markets. By this 
means the glutting of the markets has been prevented and more 
satisfactory returns made to shippers. 

Canned fruits to the extent of 2,600,000 cases were shipped in 
1903. Each case contains a dozen 2i4-pound cans. Almonds and 
walnuts, respectively, of 6,000,000 and 11,000,000 pounds, were 
produced, and of the great wine industry, 22,000,000 gallons of 
dry wines, 10,000,000 gallons of sweet wines, and 5,700,000 gallons 
of brandy is the record. The following is a summary of San Fran- 
cisco 's trade by sea during 1903: 

EXPORTS. 

To foreign countries $31,772,113 

To Hawaii 10,518,555 

To Alaska 2,934,626 

To Tutuila (Samoa) 47,946 

To Guam 21,968 

To Midway Island 10,654 

Foreign merchandise in transit 878,135 

To Atlantic States 5,368,252 

Total value all exports $51,552,249 

Shipments on United States transports 1,440,000 

Total value, including transport shipments $52,992,249 

Shipments on United States transports are not filed at the 
custom house. The Government shipments on chartered vessels arc, 
however, manifested the same as if shipped by private parties. 

IMPORTS. 

From foreign countries $32,651,650 

From Atlantic States 3,870,537 

Value of all imports by sea $36,522,187 

The above does not include coastwise trade or imports from 
non-contiguous territory of the United States. Also, the above 
item from Atlantic States means merchandise from foreign coun- 
tries landed at other ports and sent by rail to San Francisco. 

In addition, there was imported $13,975,000 of treasure. 

Summary of San Francisco's trade by sea during 1903 (exclu- 
sive of transport freight, unknown quantity, and treasure, 
$3,680,000) : 

Exports $51,552,249 

Imports 36,522,187 

Total volume of merchandise traffic $88,074,438 



152 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

There are no available figures showing merchandise imports and 
exports by rail, but it is variously estimated at from $120,000,000 
to $140,000,000 per year for the State. 

The customs receipts at the port of San Francisco for the year 
amounted to $7,850,705. This would have been nearly $9,000,000 
were it not for the fact that the 67 cents per ton duty on coal had 
been removed for the year (but is now restored) and the 60 cents 
duty taken off tea. Coal has now to compete with the native fuel, 
petroleum oil, of which in California there was, in 1903, an output 
of 23,602,000 barrels. 

The imports consist principally of teas, coffees and spices, rice, 
iron and iron products, cement, coal, silks, Chinese and Japanese 
wares, opium, hemp, jute, sugar and spirits. Of the total value 
of imports the following items are the largest: Raw silk, $11,631,- 
000 ; manufactured silk, $552,000 ; coffee, $2,962,000 ; tea, $999,000 ; 
tin, $735,000; bituminous coal, $2,526,000; manufactured fibers, 
$2,253,000; opium, $1,139,000; cement, $486,000; manufactured 
cotton, $410,000; earthenware, $342,000; hides, $433,000; spirits, 
wine and malt, $998,000. 

San Francisco ranks after New York, Boston and Philadelphia 
in custom-house receipts. 

Referring to the general field, the growing trade of California 
on the Pacific has been greatly stimulated by the laying of the 
Pacific cable, last year, from San Francisco to the Hawaiian 
Islands, and thence to Wake Island, Guam and the Philippines, 
about 6,700 miles in length. As a consequence, during the last few 
months San Francisco has become the center and distributing 
point of war news from the Orient, taking the place which London 
formerly enjoyed in this respect. There is also a new cable from 
Vancouver via Fanning, Fiji, Norfolk Islands to Auckland, New 
Zealand, and Brisbane, Australia. 

But the event which will revolutionize the Pacific trade, and 
which will confer an additional benefit upon California, is the cer- 
tain construction of the Panama canal. The United States has, at 
length, undertaken the work, provided the means and appointed a 
commission, which expects to complete the great enterprise within 
ten years. Students of commercial geography have for four cen- 
turies fully comprehended the importance of an isthmian canal to 
the commerce of the world. During all this time various conten- 
tions have prevented the beginning of the work, but now, at last, 
its accomplishment seems certain. It is the opinion of careful 
observers that it will give commercial primacy in the Pacific Ocean 
to the United States, and as California, with San Francisco as its 
entrepot, holds a unique position, the benefits that will accrue to 
the United States will be felt in every section of this State. It 
will stimulate industry by giving a wide field to the products of 
mine, field and shop. In other words, the awakening of the Pacific 
can not but redound to the benefit of California. The Pacific 
Coast will have closer commercial relations with Europe, whence 
it can receive a desirable population and find a market for its 



COMMERCE AND COMMERCIAL RELATIONS. 153 

products. It will reduce the cost to California of all its imports 
and increase the value of all its exports by cheapening transporta- 
tion; and, it will make San Francisco and San Diego, for this 
reason, great distributing centers. 

The people of California are fully alive to the importance of 
their position, and will be equal to the opportunities which the 
changed conditions will present. In the University of California 
there has been established a college of commerce to train the young 
men of the State in the methods of business and to impart a 
knowledge of the productions and needs and the commerce of 
other lands. 

The Pacific Commercial Museum, patterned after the excellent 
institution in Philadelphia, has been founded in San Francisco, 
where our merchants keep in touch with the commerce of the world, 
studying the needs of foreign places for the purpose of supplying 
them. The Chamber of Commerce of San Francisco, as its name 
implies, looks particularly after the commercial interests of the 
port, receives distinguished visitors, acts upon all measures of 
interest to the mercantile world,- and maintains an agent in 
Washington to promote favorable legislation. The Merchants' 
Exchange, which has just erected a monumental building, cares 
particularly for the shipping of the port ; and the State and City 
Boards of Trade, Manufacturers and Producers' Association, the 
Merchants' Association, and the California Promotion Committee 
are organized for the purpose of advancing the interests of the city 
and State, not only on commercial lines, but in matters of immigra- 
tion, production and civics. 

It is, therefore, safe to conclude that endowed as California has 
been so richly by Nature and favored so signally by her peculiar 
position upon the Pacific, her citizens have not been backward to 
assume the responsibilities and to wield the power which have 
been put into their hands, to the end that the commercial interests 
of their country and their State may be fostered, promoted and 
advanced. 

The poet Byron beautifully describes Venice at the height of her 
maritime supremacy, and the same language may be used of San 
Francisco, the chief port of California, now that the sceptre has 
passed from the Mediterranean to the Pacific : 

"She looks a sea Cybele, fresh from ocean, 
Rising with her tiara of proud towers 
At airy distance, with majestic motion, 
A ruler of the waters and their powers : 
And such she was ; — her daughters had their dowers 
From spoils of nations, and the exhaustless East 
Pour'd in her lap all gems in sparkling showers. 
In purple was she robed, and of her feast 
Monarchs pai'took, and deem'd their dignity increased." 



154 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

MANUFACTURES OF CALIFORNIA. 



By CHARLES E. BANCROFT, 

Secretary of Manufacturers and Producers' Association of California. 



The productive resources of a locality having generally a eon- 
trolling influence upon the occupations and prosperity of its 
people, so the native wealth of California in minerals and in 
forests and in other natural resources and the productive capa- 
bilities, under cultivation, of its soil and climate, have largely 
governed the industrial history of the State, including the growth 
of its manufactures. Broadly stated, these natural and cultivated 
products cover the following wide range : Gold, silver, copper, 
petroleum, building-stones, borax, salt, soda, slate, clay and other 
minerals; redwood lumber, white pine, sugar pine and other for- 
estry products; wheat, barley and other cereals; pasturage, hay; 
nearly every cultivated variety of fruits and vegetables known in 
the world, excepting some of those of the extreme tropics, but in- 
cluding deciduous, citrus and other semi-tropical fruits, grapes, 
nuts, olives, etc. ; livestock ; dairy products ; poultry ; fisheries, etc. 

With a brief territorial existence followed by admission to state- 
hood in 1850, its people chiefly engrossed in mining during the 
ten years following; isolated in large measure from the rest of 
the world until the completion of the first transcontinental rail- 
road in 1869, and dependent for coal supply mainly upon im- 
portation from Great Britain, Australia, Oregon and Washington 
at a cost of $7 or $8 per ton, California has plainly rested under 
disadvantages in respect to manufacturing. Great achievement 
in that class of industry might not, therefore, be expected, and 
yet it is to be seen by the United States Census Report for 1900 
that California ranked in that year next to Connecticut in value 
of manufactured products, or twelfth in the list of the states, the 
value of these products of the State being placed at nearly $303,- 
000,000, a gain of fifty per cent since 1890. This value is about 
two and one-half times that of the manufactured products of 
Maine, Louisiana or Texas. But the most important growth of 
these industries in California has occurred since the figures of the 
Twelfth Census were prepared, the obvious causes being found in 
increasing population and in the general development of all its re- 
sources and markets which is now irresistibly proceeding. Among 
these developments, and occurring most opportunely to meet the 
needs of manufacturing, is the complete solution of the question 
of power, principally through the discovery and the production 
of petroleum in vast quantities, and through the utilization of 
water power in the creation of electrical energy on a scale, and 
with audacity in long-distance transmission, not paralleled else- 
where in the world. 



MANUFACTURES OP CALIFORNIA. 155 

The output of crude petroleum in 1903 reached approximately 
23,000,000 barrels, an increase over 1902 of about 11,000,000 bar- 
rels, and there is every indication of an annually increased yield. 
This present production amounts to 151/2 barrels of 42 gallons 
each for every inhabitant of the State. Three and one-half bar- 
rels are equivalent to one ton of coal. The commercial production 
of petroleum at the present time extends over an area of about 
one-half the length of the State, with good existing facilities for 
its transportation by water, rail and pipe-line to non-producing 
localities. 

Activity in the development of electric power from the use of 
water has continued until the various plants of the State, with 
2,200 miles of transmission circuit, have a total voltage of about 
145,000 horsepower, while the present voltage of such plants in 
all the remainder of the United States, with 1,200 miles of trans- 
mission circuit, amounts to about 215,000 horsepower. The pos- 
sible future supply, in nearly all parts of California, of electric 
power generated by water is practically without limit. 

It is, moreover, to be said that, adjacent to the tide waters of 
San Francisco bay, an excellent steam coal is now available in 
large quantity and is being mined and sold at a price lower 
than offered at any previous time. Native California coal is also 
utilized in the manufacture of prepared fuel, as in the case of 
"briquettes." An extensive plant is about to begin operations 
in the making of "carbonets," the method of this manufacture 
being entirely new. It granulates, but does not powder the coal; 
shapes, but does not employ heavy pressure. In the opinion of 
experts it is likely to form a turning point in the manufacture 
of artificial fuel. The product is likened in its action as a fuel 
to a hard bituminous coal, the blocks splitting open and forming 
a coke, the gases being released only so fast as the fire will con- 
sume them, so furnishing a smokeless coal suitable for all purposes 
where anthracite coal is now thought to be indispensable. 

Thus California possesses and is commercially utilizing abun- 
dant sources of cheap power both for transportation and for 
manufacturing of all classes, and is fully assured of this advantage 
for the future. 

Among leading manufacturing industries of the State in 1900 
may be mentioned sugar and molasses refining, slaughtering, lum- 
ber and timber productions (including those of planing mille), 
flouring and grist mill products, fruit and vegetable canning and 
preserving, foundry and machine shop products, clothing, dairy 
products, explosives and ammunition, leather, wines, brandies and 
malt liquors, and printing and publishing. 

Mining made early demand for machinery and appliances re- 
quired in that industry, progressing from the cruder methods of 
placer mining, with only the simplest mechanical means, to min- 
ing in all its branches, aided by the employment of machinery of 
the highest usefulness and efficiency, which has been largely orig- 
inated in the State and turned out by its shops. This includes 



156 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

stamp mills, hydraulic mining machinery, air compressors, rock 
drills ; amalgamating, concentrating, pumping, smelting and dredg- 
ing machinery; boilers, engines, etc. Other foundry and machine- 
shop products include traction engines, brass manufactures, which 
are among the oldest of the State; well-boring appliances, gas 
engines, heating, ventilating and refrigerating apparatus, stoves 
and ranges, waterwheels and motors, and other machinery of all 
kinds. Shipbuilding in iron and steel, as well as wood, has become 
within the past twenty years one of the large manufacturing in- 
dustries of the State. 

In agriculture, there being found conditions of soil and climate 
differing in important respects from those under which agricul- 
tural and horticultural operations were conducted elsewhere, as 
well as a greater variety of conditions and opportunity for a 
greater diversity of crops, the farmer of this State soon sought 
implements and machinery better adapted to his needs than those 
commonly in use. The demand has been met by our manufacturers 
in such manner, by improvement upon former models, in material 
used and in workmanship, and by invention of appliances and 
machinery, that it may fairly be stated that the various kinds of 
implements and machinery made here furnish the greatest effi- 
ciency and economy in the uses for which they are designed and 
are of unusual strength and durability. To these facts may be 
attributed a good share of the success obtained in the growing and 
harvesting of our great variety of agricultural products. Included 
in the manufactures of this class are plows, harrows, cultivators, 
grain-headers, threshers; the great combined harvesting machines, 
which cut, thresh and deposit the sacked grain by one operation ; 
grain and seed drills and sowers, hay forks, rakes and stackers, etc. 

As of interest in connection with the development of the fruit 
industry is to be noted the manufacture of irrigating machinery, 
cans, fruit jars and cannery appliances, fruit graders, presses, 
processors, evaporators, picking appliances, hoppers, trays, special 
plows and cultivators for orchards and vineyards, fruit-tree 
sprayers, and other appliances, many of -w^hich are of original 
device and manufacture in this State and materially aid in the 
planting, growing, harvesting and marketing of fruit. 

Among other manufactures are bags for grain, fruit, etc., bel- 
lows, belting and hose, bolts, nuts and screws, boots and shoes, 
terra cotta and other clay products such as sewer and water pipe, 
etc., candles, chemicals, confectionery, cooperage, cordage (one 
of the old and important manufactures of the State), cotton manu- 
factures, elevators, fireworks, furniture, gas and electric-light 
fixtures, glass (bottles, fruit jars, window glass, art glass, etc.), 
gloves, harness, hats and caps, incubators (recognized and in de- 
mand all over the world for their high order of efficiency), jute 
manufactures, lead manufactures, mantels, metals, mill and 
cabinet work, organs and other musical instruments, paints and 
varnishes, perfumery, petroleum refining (including asphalt and 
refined oils), pharmaceutical preparations, Portland cement, roof- 



MANUFACTURES OF CALIFORNIA. 157 

iiig materials, rubber goods, safes and vaults, sheet metal work, 
scientific instruments, silk thread manufactures, smelting and re- 
fining, soap, starch, tanks, typefounding, trunks and valises, 
wagons and carriages, wirework (including wire rope and cables, 
fencing, netting, specialties, etc.), and woolen manufactures (in- 
cluding the famous California blankets). 

The conspicuous importance of California as a food-producing 
state is not to be lost sight of. It is safe to say that the State is 
to become one of the principal sources of food supply for the world 
in its production of cereals, by reason of the many forms in which 
its fruits and vegetables are and may be cured or otherwise pre- 
served, in its leading position in the production of pure wines 
of the best types and in rapidly increasing quantity, in the fishery 
products which its own waters yield and which come to it from the 
great salmon and cod fisheries of the north, in its dairy and other 
livestock and poultry products, and in its manufactures of baking 
powders, biscuits, chocolate and cocoa, flavoring extracts, olive oil, 
soda, starch, sugar, syrup, etc. 

With conservatism of statement, the advantages and opportuni- 
ties for manufacturing which California presents may therefore 
be summarized as follows: A climate conducive to health, to en- 
joyment of life and to the fullest measure of the product of labor 
owing to the absence of extremes in heat and cold ; great areas of 
tillable land richly productive in raw material ; extensive forests 
of redwood, white pine, sugar pine and other woods; inexhaustible 
deposits of iron ore awaiting only the discovery of methods of 
smelting through the use of petroleum or perhaps of electricity, 
and great variety of other minerals; motive power limitless in 
supply and low in cost, and the prospective widening of markets 
through the extension of the railroads of the continent, through 
the further opening of trade with Pacific Ocean countries and 
through the building of the Panama canal— these improving 
transportation facilities bringing to us also the raw materials of 
many lands to feed our factories, a present instance of which may 
incidentally be cited in our importation of hides which are here 
tanned through the medium of California oak tanbark, the best 
tanning agent obtained in the United States without cultivation, 
and to the good qualities of which is partly to be attributed the 
established superiority of California leather. 



158 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 



BANKS AND BANKING. 



By J. K. LYNCH, 

President of the California Bankers' Association. 



The history of banking in California gives in a brief fifty years 
an epitome of the evolution of banking throughout the world. 
Unlike most frontier communities, California had from the be- 
ginning a circulating medium ready at hand— gold; not minted 
and coined, but divided into nuggets and dust easily weighed, or 
for some purposes more crudely measured by the "pinch," which 
we are told made thick fingers valuable to the barkeeper! The 
primitive safe deposits (buckskin bags and yeast-powder cans, 
buried or cached) answered for a time, but the need for available 
deposits soon developed, and the storekeeper became the banker. 
Banking was thus at first a side line before it became a business, 
but as early as 1849 there were five private banking firms in San 
Francisco, several in Sacramento, Sutter's Fort and other places 
in the interior. Some of the names connected with these early 
firms have come down to the last decade— Sather and Tallant, for 
instance; while the express and banking corporation. Wells, Fargo 
& Co., is the successor of the firm that carried gold in the fifties. 

The unusual financial conditions presented by an isolated com- 
munity with infrequent communication and alternate scarcity 
and glut of merchandise, together with rapid fluctuations in the 
prices of real estate, proved fatal to many of the early ventures. 
The failures of Adams & Co., Page, Bacon & Co., and other of 
the pioneer bankers, led to a popular distrust of private banking 
firms, and favored the establishment of strong, incorporated con- 
cerns. The Bank of California, incorporated from the private 
bank of Fretz, Ralston & Co. in 1864, is still the leading commer- 
cial bank in the State. 

The first incorporation for a savings bank was in 1857. The 
first national bank was chartered in 1870; the first trust company 
in 1882 ; while the close of the century saw all four classes of in- 
stitutions firmly established and forming a financial system of 
which any state might be proud. 

The early banks were merely offices where gold dust 
Commepcial was exchanged for some form of current coin or 
Banks. drafts, and every steamer leaving for Panama car- 

ried shipments of gold to meet the drafts sold. 
Banks of deposit, where funds were held subject to check, was 
the next step, and the discount and loan features soon followed. 

The magnificent harbor afforded by the bay of San Francisco, 
which as early as 1849 was crowded with shipping, marked the 



BANKS AND BANKING. 159 

city as one of the commercial centers of the world, and banks to 
care for the needs of commerce were a necessity. As San Fran- 
cisco is cosmopolitan in its population, so it is cosmopolitan in 
its banks, and the buying and selling of bills of exchange on the 
principal cities of the world, the issuing of credits for travelers'" 
use, and of commercial credits for the purchase of merchandise— 
all these are a regular part of its bankers' business. Facing the 
Orient, whose products have always been the subject of impor- 
tant commerce, San Francisco banks issue credits for the pur- 
chase of teas, coffees, spices, silks, jute and matting, and pay for 
them in London, still the "clearing-house of the world," with 
the proceeds of the wheat, salmon, canned fruits, wine and other 
articles of California production which the big ships carry 'round 
the "Horn" to Europe. 

Now that the Hawaiian and Philippine islands have been added 
to our possessions, the volume of our commerce is greatly in- 
creased, and with it the opportunities of the banker. The ques- 
tion of the "open door" in China, which is now involved in the 
war between Russia and Japan, is one of great interest to the 
banker. The answer must be a matter of uncertainty for some 
time, but the hope is not unwarranted that it will be decided in 
favor of commercial freedom. Another equally vital question is 
that of the Panama canal, which now seems an assured fact. 
The results of such diversion of the world's commerce are too far- 
reaching in their character to be accurately forecast. Considered 
from a purely local and selfish standpoint, there has been much 
difference of opinion as to the effect on San Francisco's trade; 
but the best opinion seems to be that while there must be some 
diversion of traffic, the shortening of the waterway to the Eastern 
States and Europe must result in an increase of commerce, and 
consequently, in the field for the commercial banker. It is worthy 
of note that, while from the very beginning, San Francisco's 
bankers have been familiar with questions of world exchange and 
trade, some of the New York banks are only now organizing ex- 
change departments and tendering their services to the provin- 
cials on this side of the continent. 

What has been written about San Francisco as the leading 
commercial city of the State, applies in some degree to many of 
the interior cities. The shipment by rail of fruit, both fresh and 
dried; of beans, barley, and other products, affords a large 
volume of domestic exchange, which is handled by the banks of 
Los Angeles, Fresno, San Jose, Sacramento and other points in 
the interior. 

The story is best told by the figures. At the date of the last 
complete report to the Bank Commissioners, September 8, 1903, 
32 San Francisco commercial banks had a capital and surplus of 
$48,705,019, and deposits of $118,779,057; 242 interior commer- 
cial banks had capital and surplus of $41,742,600, and deposits 
of $127,303,658; making a total for the State, 274 banks, with 
capital and surplus of $90,447,619, and deposits of $246,082,715. 



160 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

The high wages and large salaries, with compara- 
Savings tively cheap living expenses in San Francisco, con- 
Banks, stituted a fine field for saving in the later fifties 
and early sixties. The easy fortunes made in mines, 
and the speculative disposition developed by mining, and natural 
to an adventurous class of men and women, were hardly condu- 
cive to thrift; but institutions to foster the saving habit were 
started, and the men on whom the management devolved have 
ably and honestly administered the trust reposed in them. The 
first savings incorporation was that of the Savings and Loan So- 
ciety, in July, 1857, and it still holds its place among the leading 
banks of the State. It is worthy of note that its first dividends 
to depositors were at the rate of eighteen per cent per annum; 
that in 1866 it was paying twelve per cent, and as late as 1878, 
eight per cent per annum. From that date, the fall of interest 
rates to approximately those prevailing in the Eastern cities was 
rapid. For some years the interest paid to the depositors in Cali- 
fornia savings banks has ranged from three to four per cent. The 
Hibernia Savings and Loan Society, incorporated in 1859, is a 
purely mutual concern, having no capital stock ; yet now holding 
deposits of fifty-six millions of dollars — larger than those of any 
other institution west of Chicago. The San Francisco Savings 
Union, incorporated in 1862, and the German Savings and Loan 
Society, incorporated in 1868, have deposits of thirty-two and 
thirty-five millions of dollars, respectively. 

Though the savings banks had a good field for gathering de- 
posits, the field for loaning them was more restricted, being for 
many years confined to real estate. Amid the booms and col- 
lapses in values inseparable from the rapid growth of new com- 
munities it is a matter of congratulation that so few fell by the 
wayside, and that of those which fell, but one or two showed reck- 
less management. 

While San Francisco was developing the large savings banks 
above mentioned, and other smaller but no less secure banks, 
strong savings institutions had grown up in Oakland, Los Angeles 
and many other towns in the interior. On the date before men- 
tioned, 9 savings banks in San Francisco had capital- and surplus 
of $10,434,577,^ and deposits of $151,421,212; 59 interior savings 
banks had a capital and surplus of $6,631,383, and deposits of 
$61,474,317 ; making a total for the State, 68 banks, with a capital 
and surplus of $17,065,960, and deposits of $212,895,529. 

Previous to 1854 the current gold coin in use was 
National principally from the private mints of Kellogg, Hew- 
Banks. ston & Co., Wass, Mohlitor & Co., and Moffatt & 
Co., while the silver was a miscellaneous collection 
of foreign pieces. In that year the United States Branch Mint 
at San Francisco was opened for coinage. This gave an abun- 
dant supply of money for business purposes, and the people be- 
came accustomed to metallic money, and entirely unfamiliar with 
the bank-note circulation of more or less uncertain value which 
was current in the Atlantic States. During the Civil War, when 



BANKS AND BANKING. 161 

Congress issued treasury notes, or greenbacks, as they were called, 
Californians refused to have anything to do with them, and to the 
end California remained on a specie basis. Merchants generally 
refused to take advantage of the act permitting them to discharge 
obligations previously contracted on a coin basis in depreciated 
paper. The few who did not live up to this convention were looked 
on with great disesteem, and a special mark stood against their 
names in the mercantile agency books, meaning, "Pays in green- 
backs." This action had a decided and lasting effect on Cali- 
fornia finances, by preventing the great inflation of prices which 
later caused such disaster in the East. It was possible only on 
account of the isolated position which California occupied at that 
time, and, while it has been called a disloyal act on the part of 
a distinctly loyal State, it was more than made up by the steady 
stream of gold which she poured into the national coffers during 
this most critical period. 

In the northern and central parts of the State, the nationals in- 
creased slowly, and for several years there was but one national 
bank in San Francisco. The First National Bank of Los Angeles 
was chartered in 1880, and was for some years the only national 
bank in Southern California. In fact, at that time, there were 
but two other banks in Los Angeles. The great movement which 
settled up that section in the later eighties was made up of men 
from the Eastern States, already familiar with the national sys- 
tem, and banks were incorporated under that system throughout 
all the towns of the south, Los Angeles alone having eight at the 
present time. The national system has spread gradually through 
the central portion of the State, and is growing in popularity, 
more banks being chartered as national or converted into na- 
tionals every year. On September 8, 1903, the figures were: For 
San Francisco, 7 banks, with a capital and surplus of $12,035,227, 
and deposits of $27,916,373; for the interior, 57 banks, with a 
capital and surplus of $12,918,498, and deposits of $67,072,531; 
making the total for the State, 64 banks, with a capital and sur- 
plus of $24,953,725, and deposits of $94,988,904. 

The position of San Francisco on the western edge 
Foreign of the continent, with the broad Pacific in front, and 
Banks. the gold fields at its back, proved attractive to for- 
eign capital from an early date. Among the first 
foreigners to open here were the French. The house of Pioche, 
Bayerque & Cie. is an example, while the great French bank, the 
Comptoir National d'Escompte de Paris, has only recently closed 
its agency, to be succeeded by the Russo-Chinese Bank. The 
Swiss were represented by F. Berton & Co. and A. Borel & Co. 
The Rothschilds maintained an agency for many years, which 
was turned over to the Bank of California. The Seligmans be- 
gan as private bankers, and then incorporated as the Anglo- 
Californian Bank, Limited. The Lazards became the London, 
Paris and American Bank, Limited. The London and San Fran- 
cisco Bank, Limited, was the result of the efforts of Milton S. 

11 



162 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

Latham, once Governor of California, to interest British capital 
in the State. Canadian banks, like the Bank of British Columbia 
and the Bank of British North America, found agencies in San 
Francisco a good outlet for surplus funds. Exchange banks, like 
the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, found San 
Francisco a necessary link in the chain they were putting around 
the world. These banks have been an important factor in the de- 
velopment of the State, and their control of funds from points 
where there was no pressure an element of safety in times of dan- 
ger. They have never been numerous enough to dominate the 
situation, and with the increase of strong domestic institutions, 
their importance is becoming relatively less. 

The business of the State was at one time exclusively 
Private in the hands of the private banker, and some of those 
Banks. who survived the disasters of the fifties established 

reputations that carried them almost to the close of 
the century. The increasing magnitude of business required 
amounts of capital more easily handled in the corporate form, 
and, besides, the spirit of the times seemed to favor corporations. 
With the passing of the men who had made the banks, the names 
ceased to have a value, the personality that animated them evapo- 
rated, and one by one, with but few exceptions, they have either 
incorporated or liquidated. In the entire State, at the date of 
the last report, there were but nineteen private banks, all but one 
outside of San Francisco. They showed capital and surplus of 
$1,119,709, and deposits of $2,551,334. 

The trust company, this end-of-the-century financial 
Trust marvel, was slow in taking root in California. The 

Companies, savings banks had taken on the care of large deposits 

belonging to estates, and other dormant funds, which 
is the most important part of the trust company's business where 
it has reached its greatest development. Besides, the California 
mind has not fully grasped the idea of the corporate administra- 
tion of trusts and estates. Nevertheless, the trust company is 
now firmly established. San Francisco has four strong institu- 
tions, and Los Angeles has three. The figures are— capital and 
surplus, $5,959,000; deposits, $23,884,000. 

GRAND TOTALS. 

Capital and Dpnnsits 

Surplus. ueposits. 

Commercial banks, including na- 
tional banks and trusts com- 
panies .$90,447,619 $246,082,715 

Savings banks 17,065,960 212,895,529 



$107,513,579 $458,978,244 

With the exception of the runs which led to the clos- 
Failupes ing of so many banks in 1855, California has been 

and Panics, remarkably free from any general financial disturb- 
ances. Bad management has at times wrecked banks, 
but the cases have been individual, and the people have generally 



BANKS AND BANKING. 163 

had the good sense to discriminate between the sound and the 
unsound. The panic of 1893 spent its force in Los Angeles, where 
a number of perfectly sound banks were obliged to close their 
doors, and was hardly felt in the rest of the State. In San Fran- 
cisco, the only banks to close were the Pacific Bank (an old in- 
stitution that had fallen into incapable hands and was in such 
condition that liquidation was inevitable), and the People's Home 
Savings Bank, which was under the same management. Although 
many of the banks were drawn on heavily, more through the neces- 
sities of business than through alarm, they were all in good con- 
dition, and' there was nothing approaching a panic. 

The constitution adopted in 1849 contained a strin- 
State gent prohibition against corporations organized for 

Supervision, "banking," the term being used as synonymous 

with issuing circulating notes. This was evidently 
the result of bitter experience with the "wild-cat" currency with 
which many of the states were afflicted. It was first assumed that 
this prohibition applied to all forms of banking conducted by 
corporations, and in 1850 the legislature passed an act putting 
into effect this interpretation; but a more careful examination of 
the organic law showed that the embargo was intended to extend 
to note-issuing corporations only. In 1862, the legislative pro- 
hibition was repealed, and many banks were incorporated under 
the general laws of the State. These banks were permitted to 
exist, but were neither encouraged by the State nor were they 
supervised in any way. In 1878 an act was passed creating a 
Board of Bank Commissioners, and thereafter all banks in the 
State, except the nationals, were placed under the control of the 
board. The provisions of the act were in the main good, and re- 
sulted in the correction of some loose practices. Amendments to 
the act were made from time to time, until in 1903 the legislature 
repealed it and abolished the commission. During an interval 
when there was no banking law in force, about eighty banks were 
incorporated under the general laws ; but few of them have opened 
for business, the incorporators evidently believing that the char- 
ters so secured, with the freedom from restrictions, would become 
valuable. After an interval of some weeks, a new law was passed, 
which is in many respects an improvement on the former one. It 
provides for a board of four commissioners, at least one of whom 
must be an expert accountant. Every bank in the State (except- 
ing the national banks) is required to apply to the commission for 
a license to transact business, and thereafter to report its condi- 
tion in detail on past dates, three times a year. The commis- 
sioners are required to make at least one personal examination of 
every bank within their jurisdiction during the year. Banks found 
to be conducting their affairs in an unsafe or illegal manner may 
be ordered to conform to the law, and if they fail to comply are 
reported to the Attorney-General. When the commissioners are 
unanimously of the opinion that a bank is insolvent, they are re- 
quired to take charge, and at the same time report the case to the 



164 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

Attorney-General. That officer begins an action in the proper 
court, which, after a hearing, can either allow the bank to resume, 
or place it in the hands of a receiver. In case of the appointment 
of a receiver, the commission has general supervision over him 
and the liquidation of the bank. 

The development of banking in California has been 
Conelusion. briefly traced from its beginning to the opening of 
the twentieth century. In the main, it has been a 
natural growth, following the needs of the different communities, 
and responding closely to their demands. One feature which is 
worthy of attention, is the fact that the banking capital which 
has aided much in the development of the State has been, in a 
great measure, produced in the State. At first, it came straight 
from the mines, and it is still coming in a steady stream from 
that source. Later, wheat, wool, wine, lumber and other varied 
products of this most favored land contributed their share, and 
the commerce that centered around the bay of San Francisco con- 
tributed not a little. It is true, as we have seen, that foreign 
capital had a share in the building of San Francisco, and that 
Eastern money has done much for the country around Los Angeles, 
but taking the State as a whole, it still remains true that California 
money has founded and is maintaining California banks. It is 
also a fact that the banks have generally loaned their money at 
home, and have not succumbed to the temptations afforded by high 
rates on the New York Stock Exchange, or the alluring lists of the 
dealer in commercial paper. 

It will be noticed that in proportion to population, the country 
south of Tehachapi has many more banks than the rest of the 
State, and the banks have many more depositors in proportion 
to their deposits. This, again, is the result of the influx of people 
from the East, who are used to paying their bills by check. The 
inhabitants of the northern counties have not entirely outgrown 
the buckskin-bag safe deposit, and a surprising number of mer- 
cantile transactions are still settled in coin. This furnishes a 
legitimate field for banking enterprise, and some of the newly 
organized banks are working it to good purpose. 

The prosperity of the past five years has led to a great increase 
in the number of banks, and many are still being started. In most 
cases, the increase is justified by the increase in population, or else 
the new banks develop that field of unbanked money which exists 
in every community. It is a fact that the town with only one bank 
never gives that bank all its funds. A second bank draws out 
deposits that would not come to the first, and this principle holds 
good in the larger city as well. It is, however, a question if the 
demand has not been, for a time at least, supplied, and the invest- 
ment of capital in this way can not be advised, except after a 
thorough examination of the conditions in any particular place. 

Though still a young state, California has a number of banks 
that are nearing the half-century mark, and many that have passed 
the quarter. Those concerns that have weathered the storms, and 



CALIFORNIA SCHOOLS. 165 

come through without disaster, find the established confidence to 
be their best asset. They are not confined to the larger cities, but 
are scattered all over the State, whose development they are 
steadily fostering, not with the methods of the boomer, not spec- 
tacularly, but quietly; encouraging saving, helping legitimate en- 
terprises, and resolutely checking unwise speculation. In their 
hands, and in those of the newer banks which are following the 
trails they have broken, the finances of the State may be safely 
entrusted. 



CALIFORNIA'S SCHOOLS. 



By ROBERT FURLONG, 

Chief of Department of Education. 



A review of education in California during the years of her 
statehood presents a period of remarkable activity in school 
development. 

From social conditions in which only a few unrelated schools 
were conducted at irregular intervals, to a condition in which 
organized society is maintaining throughout the State a system of 
well-equipped graded schools— a system ranking with the best in 
America — such is the record of the first half-century of Cali- 
fornia's state history. To this record, which has special reference 
to the educational system now maintained by the State, should be 
added an extensive system of parochial schools and also many pri- 
vate schools, denominational schools and academies found in the 
larger towns and cities. 

This marked contrast between education at the beginning of 
state history and as it is today becomes more striking upon mak- 
ing a study of the agencies that have contributed to the change. 

A brief statement of some leading circumstances in the transi- 
tional period of state history may aid to a better understanding 
of later progressive changes. 

During the years of Spanish and of Mexican control the few. 
widely separated schools of California were supported either by 
religious societies or by tuition fees from patrons. A system of 
free schools, such as was proposed soon after American occupation 
began, had never been practiced under the old regime. The organic 
law that came into effect with the admission of California into the 
Union provided for a general system of public education. Thus 
early was laid the broad and substantial basis upon which has been 
built a splendid educational superstructure. 



166 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

It is the theory of our form of government that a fair 

Public degree of education is necessary to good citizenship. 

School To that end provision is made by law for at least an 

System, elementary education for all children in the State, 
whether poor or rich, in country or in city. No 
community is so poor, none so remote, but that it may have a 
school, free from direct cost to itself, if it will organize for that 
purpose. Accepting this privilege, every settlement in the State 
has its own school building in which a school is maintained dur- 
ing eight to ten months in a year. 

Revenue for the maintenance of these schools is drawn in part 
from the state school fund and in part from county school funds. 
The first named fund consists of moneys accruing from various 
sources, but chiefly from a uniform state school tax levied annu- 
ally. This money may be used only in the payment of teachers' 
salaries. 

The county school fund is raised by a direct tax levied annually 
upon all property values in a county. The rate varies in the dif- 
ferent counties, but must be sufficient to raise a sum not less than 
$6 per census child. It may be used for general school purposes, 
including teachers' salaries and school libraries. Additional rev- 
enue for increasing the school facilities, or for building a school 
house in any community, may be raised by a direct tax on district 
property when a majority vote of district electors so decide, or 
by a bond tax when carried by two-thirds of the electors voting 
at a special election for the purpose. In the year 1902 the total 
revenue from the State for schools was $3,588,626 ; from county 
school tax, .$2,538,000, and from city or district tax, $326,095. The 
total of all receipts for public school purposes in 1902 was 
$8,125,490.63. 

The amount of school money raised for each person between 
five and seventeen years of age (census age) in 1902 was $21.72 — 
a sum equaled in only three other states. 

It is and has been the policy of the State to set a high standard 
of qualification for its teachers and to pay sufficient to secure the 
best talent. 

Nearly every phase of education is found repre- 
Coupses of sented in California schools. "From the kinder- 
Study and garten to the university" is an expression often 
Classifiea- used as inclusive of the whole range of educational 
tion. activity in the state system. Outside this range, and 

beyond it, are found schools for technical and pro- 
fessional study. Such schools, while not in exact alignment with 
the regular system, are invaluable for students who would spe- 
cialize in some chosen study. 

The public school system comprises an elementary course of eight 
years, a secondary or academic course of four years, and the higher 
education or college courses of the university. 

Where a city or district so elects, a public kindergarten course 
of two years may precede the regular courses named. Kinder- 



CALIFORNIA SCHOOLS. 167 

gartens flourish in all the leading cities and in some of the larger 
towns, but only a few places maintain them as part of the regular 
school system. 

The elementary course, which admits children at six years of 
age, provides for four years in a primary school and four years 
in a grammar school. This course is usually divided into eight 
grades, corresponding with the number of years ordinarily taken 
to complete it. A ninth grade or year is sometimes added. In 
rural schools of one department a single teacher may have pupils 
of all the grades. This, however, does not often occur. Rural 
schools with one teacher are common throughout the State. Wher- 
ever the ranches are large the population is correspondingly small 
within a district's limits, in which case the one-department school 
serves every purpose. Such a school is accessible to every country 
home. It is in session from seven to ten months in the year. It 
is usually a good school, in which all of the ordinary English 
branches are taught by a competent teacher. A course of study 
prescribed by official authority is followed in it with nearly as 
much precision as in a graded school having many teachers. 

In the smaller valleys where fruit orchards and vineyards sup- 
port many homes in smaller area, schools of several class-rooms 
are necessary. Modern buildings, equipped with the latest devices 
for the health and comfort of pupils, are the central places of 
interest in such communities. 

The elementary school of the city does not differ essentially 
from the rural school of the same class, already described. Dif- 
ferences in environment to some extent modify working condi- 
tions. A large attendance permits of finer classification, also an 
increased teaching force permits of closer supervision. Teachers 
have the same legal qualifications and the subjects taught are those 
named in the statutes for all elementary schools. The course of 
study is usually more elaborate, the terms are longer, and school 
buildings better, as a rule, in the city than in the country. 

Supervising teachers of special subjects such as music, drawing, 
and manual training are employed in the larger cities to aid class 
teachers in their work. A board of education and a superintendent 
of schools direct all educational work in a county, also in a city. 

The statutory studies for the several primary and grammar 
grades of the elementary schools are as follows, viz, "Reading, 
writing, orthography, arithmetic, geography, nature study; lan- 
guage and grammar, with special reference to composition; his- 
tory of the United States and civil government; elements of 
physiology and hygiene, with special reference to the effects of 
alcohol and narcotics on the human system; music, drawing, ele- 
mentary bookkeeping and humane education." The statute pro- 
vides that instruction in some of the branches named may be 
given orally. Educational values are considered by school boards 
when making time allotment for different studies in a course. 
Each county and each city has a certain independence in having 
its own course of study, yet, since all courses must conform to 



168 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

the statutes, the differences are not essential, being mainly matters 
of detail in method or suggestion. 

The State has looked with special favor upon its elementary 
schools. By constitutional provision the state school fund, amount- 
ing to millions of dollars annually, can be used for no other pur- 
pose than for the payment of teachers of primary and grammar 
grades. This support, considered with the high standard re- 
quired of teachers, places the elementary schools of California on 
a higher plane than is the same class of schools in perhaps any 
other state. And a school of this character is within reach of 
every home. Families contemplating a residence in California 
will find upon their arrival, no matter where they locate, a school 
in session in that neighborhood ready to enroll their children as 
pupils. 

They will find that the flag has preceded them there, and that 
in California the school house "follows the flag"— its chief sup- 
port — its supplement as the emblem of a free and enlightened 
people. The flag and the school are inseparable. 

A knowledge of the common English branches, even 
Secondary as taught in the best grammar schools, is no longer 
OP High thought to be sufficient school equipment for the work 

Schools. of life. It is now nearly twenty years since the people 

of California began to realize this. Outside of the 
large cities there were then few high schools in the State. Today 
there are no cities, large towns or thickly populated sections of 
country without such schools. Those located in cities are com- 
monly designated "city high schools," as they are supported 
chiefly by city revenues. The law permits two or more adjacent 
districts to unite in maintaining a "union high school." Many 
rural communities have taken advantage of this statute. Union 
high schools have multiplied of late years until there are now 
very few counties unrepresented in this class of schools. Primarily 
the union high school is intended for pupils who have completed 
the work of the grammar schools in the districts uniting. Cost of 
maintenance is provided mainly by a levy upon the property value 
of the union high school district. Some of the smaller counties 
maintain a county high school, usually at the county seat. A 
county high school fund meets the expense. 

The three kinds of high schools named, while differing in or- 
ganization and means of support, are essentially the same in plan 
and purpose. Nearly all high schools have a four years' course, 
which begins with the completion of the grammar school. Tuition 
is free in all. The course is academic, covering college entrance 
requirements. 

Of the 143 high schools in the State, 118 are accredited to the 
State University at Berkeley, which means that the university has, 
after inspection, recognized these schools as doing the kind and 
amount of preparatory work necessary for admission to its col- 
leges. Student graduates from such accredited schools, when rec- 
ommended by their high school faculty, are admitted to the 



CALIFORNIA SCHOOLS. 169 

university without examination. In addition to the preparatory 
course for college, some high schools have elective courses that 
do not contemplate later college study. 

An advanced commercial course is a strong feature of some 
high schools of the State. Students taking such course usually 
enter active business life upon leaving school. 

Polytechnic high schools are maintained in a few of the large 
cities. In these students are trained in the mechanical arts. 

As already stated, these various secondary schools are sustained 
chiefly by local means. Each county, city or community having a 
high school bears the burdens of its own school. In this respect 
they differ from the elementary schools, which are supported by 
the people of the whole State. A recent amendment to the con- 
stitution permits the legislature to grant state aid to high schools. 
The first support of this kind given to secondary education was 
during the past year. It is believed that this state aid in the main- 
tenance of high schools will give them a new impetus for growth 
and strength; that they will increase not only in numbers, but in 
efficiency also. 

The crowning institution of the State's educational 
The State system is the University of California. This was 
University, chartered by the State in 1868. Five years later it 

was installed in its present home at Berkeley, over- 
looking San Francisco bay and some ten miles from the 
metropolis of the State. While the main site is at Berkeley, 
the University has affiliated colleges, various branch institu- 
tions and experiment stations elsewhere over the State. The 
vigorous growth it has made during the last decade has aston- 
ished the university world. Its comprehensive system of col- 
leges and the facilities they offer for both cultural and voca- 
tional study; the work it is doing along certain lines of special 
investigation in science; the aid it is rendering to several leading 
industries of the State, are all matters too widely known to need 
review here. It is sufficient for the purposes of this article to 
point to the fact that this great institution of learning, with all 
the opportunities it offers to youth, is open, free from tuition, to 
every student of either sex who has made the necessary prepara- 
tion for admission to its colleges. 

Although not a part of the public educational system, 
Leland this university opens its doors to students, without 

Stanford tuition, in all of its college courses. It, also, is ranked 
Junior among the leading universities of the western world. 

University. It was founded by the late Senator Leland Stanford 

and his wife, Jane L. Stanford, as a memorial to their 
deceased son, for whom the university was named. It is located 
in the beautiful Santa Clara valley near the college town of Palo 
Alto, thirty-three miles from San Francisco. It is richly endowed. 
Its faculty is strong; its student body is select. Although young 
in years, this university has attained marked distinction. Through- 
out the civilized world today it is perhaps as well known as any 
university in the United States. 



170 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

It will be seen that California is not lacking in faeili- 
Private and ties for the higher education. Besides the two well- 
Denomina- known universities described above there are numer- 
tional. ous institutions of good standing that confer college 

degrees. These are mostly of a private or denomina- 
tional character. Prominent in this class of institutions might be 
named Santa Clara College, University of the Pacific, University 
of Southern California, St. Mary's College, Pomona College, St. 
Ignatius College, Mills College, and others. From some of these 
colleges have come men and women of distinction in the history 
of the State and in the affairs of the nation. 

In the sj^ate system of public education, and in gen- 
Qualiflea- eral for all classes of educational institutions, the 
tions of character and training of teachers receive careful 

Teachers. attention. Few states in the Union have set such high 

standards of qualification for teachers as are estab- 
lished in California. The statutes name the requirements for the 
different grades of certificates which teachers must hold. To 
qualify as teacher in a high school requires both academic and pro- 
fessional knowledge of a high order. This means a full course in 
a university, which course must include pedagogical study. 

California has five professional training schools in 
State which students may qualify as teachers for the ele- 

Nopmal mentary grades. These schools, maintained by the 

Schools. State, are located one each at San Jose, Los Angeles, 

Chico, San Diego and San Francisco. Their courses 
vary to fit different local conditions. At this time the normal 
schools at San Francisco and San Jose have the professional course 
of two years. The Chico and San Diego schools have a four years' 
course, which is academic and professional. The Los Angeles 
school has a course of two years and one of four years. Require- 
ments for admission to the professional course are much higher 
than for the longer course that includes academic work. These 
normal schools are doing an excellent service for the State in 
furnishing trained teachers for its primary and grammar schools. 
Their value is becoming better recognized each year, as is evi- 
denced by a steadily increasing demand for their graduates. 

The limitations of this article have not permitted of more than 
a hasty glance at any of the several agencies named as factors of 
education in California. Only the means to an end have been pre- 
sented. The various phases of class-room work, what the schools 
are actually doing for the youth of the State, what the people are 
receiving in return for the millions of dollars annually expended 
in education, are all topics that invite discussion, but they are 
outside the scope of this review. In this article the aim has been 
to show that California is well provided with educational facili- 
ties, that her schools of every grade are of as high standards as 
any in the Union, and that intending homeseekers will find in this 
Golden State all that they may desire in the education of their 
children. 



MORAL AND RELIGIOUS LIFE IN CALIFORNIA. 171 



MORAL AND RELIGIOUS LIFE IN CALIFORNIA. 



By CHARLES R. BROWN, 
Pastor of First Congregational Church, Oakland. 



In all the years of human history men of moral vision have been 
going west. Many of them went out not knowing whither they 
went, sailing under sealed orders and unaware of the full signifi- 
cance of their action, but nevertheless moving forward in the def- 
inite fulfillment of a divine purpose. 

It was in that spirit of faith that Abraham left Chaldea — he 
went out, he went west, to Canaan to rear his family in the wor- 
ship of one God. Thus Paul went out— he, too, went west from 
Troas in Asia to Macedonia in Europe, that he might plant his 
gospel in the newer continent. Thus the Christian missionaries 
in the days of Augustine went out — they went west from Italy to 
England, when the latter country was pagan, that they might 
evangelize the people. Thus Christian men went west from Europe 
to become the early settlers in our own land, laying the founda- 
tions of the republic in faith and devotion. Thus Whitman and 
Benton, Junipero Serra and Thomas Starr King went out, going 
west to make known upon the Pacific Coast the message of divine 
love. And thus the shiploads of missionaries and school teachers 
still go, moving west, that in the Philippines and all the islands 
of the sea, as well as in China and Japan, they may sow the seed 
of a nobler life. It has been a long and unbroken procession, set- 
ting out from the older East to the newer West in the spirit of 
moral adventure. 

A splendid share of this idealism went into the early life of 
California. We find all about us abundant evidence of the ven- 
ture and heroism of faith. Spanish missionaries, following in the 
wake of the conquest by Cortes, crossed over to Mexico, and then 
finding their way up through Lower California, planted their 
preaching stations in all the valleys that lie along the sea. San 
Diego and San Gabriel, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo, Mon- 
terey, San Jose, and San Francisco— these are the enduring monu- 
ments of their early efi'orts; and they went still farther on until 
they reached Sonoma, where the movement paused. They taught 
the Indians to think and to work and to pray. They practiced a 
beautiful, uncalculating hospitality. They gave character to that 
mission architecture which is a distinctive feature of the State. 

And in those early times another world power, Russia, sent 
hither its missionaries, representing the Greek church. They 
came, not from the South or from sunny Spain, but from the 
frozen regions of the North, cr(>ssing at Behring's strait, plant- 
ing the standards of their faith in Alaska and continuing as far 



172 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

south as Fort Ross, which stands also in Sonoma county. And 
even as the "Sans" and "Santas" of Southern California testify 
to the work of the Spanish missionaries from the Latin church; 
even as the names of "Alhambra" and "Alviso," "Alvarado" 
and "Alameda," point back still farther to the time when the 
Moors crossed into Spain, bringing the Arabic "Al" with them, 
to be carried in turn by those Spaniards to the New World; so 
the names yonder in Sonoma county, "Russian River" and 
" Sebastopol, " "St. Helena" and all the rest, speak of the pres- 
ence of Russian missionaries from the Greek church. 

But into the moral life of this mighty State God meant that 
Saxon ideals and Protestant principles should also enter. Across 
the plains and around the Horn came a great company of devoted 
men and women to found schools and build churches which should 
minister in still other ways to the higher life of this rapidly grow- 
ing commonwealth. We find, therefore, today, as a result of these 
varied efforts, all the well-known religious bodies well represented 
in California by able ministers and prosperous churches, which 
furnish moral leadership to the communities where they stand. 

There has been a mistaken impression in certain quarters that 
moral conditions in California in the days of the pioneers were 
especially wild and lawless. The country was new, indeed, and 
the discovery of gold brought adventurers as well as sturdy and 
useful types of American life. The atmosphere was one to de- 
velop that courage and self-reliance which sometimes forget the 
respect due to order and system. In some of the early settlements 
and mining camps it was, indeed, as in the days of the Judges: 
"In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did that 
which was right in his own eyes." The trip across the plains or 
the voyage " 'Round the Horn" had prompted the spirit of self- 
reliance until all hands were ready to face difficulty and danger 
with a jolly good humor which sometimes bordered on recklessness. 

But after all the necessary admissions are made, the moral sen- 
timent of the dominant element among the pioneers was just and 
true. In the days when, owing to the preoccupation of the men 
of force and influence in rapid money-making, the administration 
of affairs at San Francisco had become too feeble and corrupt 
to be endured, there came the Vigilance Committee. It was in 
its personnel and in its methods of procedure as far removed as 
could be from the spirit of the mob. They were grave, determined 
men who saw that necessity was upon them to rebuke defiant 
wickedness in a way that could not be misunderstood, and to rid 
the community of a set of scoundrels which were a menace to all 
decency and honesty. The real leaders of the Vigilance Committee 
were, indeed, public surgeons, and they cut away with care and 
insight the cancerous growths which threatened the life of the body 
politic. The result was that there came a clearing of the air, a 
strengthening of the moral sanctions and an increase of that better 
sentiment which is for the health and security of any community. 

There are certain characteristics of the moral life of the State 



MORAL AND RELIGIOUS LIFE IN CALIFORNIA. 173 

which are noticed at once by those who come to make their homes 
in California. The generosity of the people is warm and abun- 
dant. The spirit of those days when men gave freely and even 
recklessly because they were digging gold out of the foothills by 
the hatful, has been handed down to their successors. The people 
now respond readily and largely to the appeals of genuinely good 
causes. 

The evidence of this spirit is apparent in the various sections 
of the State. The generous thoughtfulness of one family alone 
on behalf of higher education for the youth of California and of 
the Greater West has given more than thirty millions of dollars 
for the rearing and endowing of Stanford University. When his 
son died and left him childless, Senator Stanford said, "The 
children of California shall be my children," and the millions 
were placed where they would bless and enrich the lives of all the 
generations of aspiring young men and young women yet to come. 
In similar spirit James Lick devoted his great fortune to the crea- 
tion of the Lick School of Applied Arts, of the famous Lick Ob- 
servatory on Mount Hamilton, where the clear skies of California 
give astronomers an almost unbroken opportunity for the study 
of the heavens, and of other well-known institutions which owe 
their existence to his generosity. 

The gift of other fortunes less notable, perhaps, but given in 
the same spirit of unselfishness, has reared for the people of 
the State a splendid array of hospitals and homes, galleries and 
libraries, schools and churches. In all the lines of activity which 
call for generosity and public spirit there are a great company 
of citizens here who have learned that "it is more blessed to give 
than to receive." 

The moral life of the State is also characterized by the spirit 
of freedom and tolerance. The members of religious bodies which 
observe as their sacred day another day in the week than that ob- 
served by the great majority of worshiping people find in Cali- 
fornia no statutes compelling action which their conscience does 
not approve and no legal prohibitions interfering with what is to 
them the pathway of duty. The aim of California has been to 
"render unto Ctesar those things which are Cgesar's" by legis- 
lating only in regard to those secular interests in which all stand 
alike before the law, and to leave to the free and untrammeled de- 
cision of the individual conscience those deeper, personal attitudes 
and relationships "which are God's." 

This absence of the puritanical habit of mind has sometimes 
been misinterpreted. The strong, natural, adventurous men who 
always rally on the frontiers are ever impatient of restraint — 
sometimes impatient of wholesome restraint. The outdoorness of 
our life; the fact that over wide areas people may, if they choose, 
go off upon picnics fifty-two Sundays in the year; has added to 
this spirit of freedom which may indeed be carried to excess. This 
manifest geniality of the climate and the inviting nature of the 
outdoor air have therefore had something to do with an irrespon- 



174 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

sible habit of mind. It is much easier to believe in the wrath of 
God against evil in Northampton than in Pasadena, especially in 
the winter months. The absence of some of the rigors and terrors 
that have found place in the habits of mind belonging to serious 
people in other regions has not always been to our advantage. 

But even as religious people have found upon the whole that a 
separation of church and state, and the consequent commitment 
of all religious interests to the care of voluntary loyalty, have been 
for the advantage of both church and state, promoting a more 
resolute and less formal type of piety, so the air of freedom and 
the less conventional atmosphere touching matters of ethics and 
religion in California have meant the development of a large class 
of men who, left to themselves, chose righteousness simply because 
it was right. The children of any republic must in the long run 
learn to be free without abusing their freedom ; and in this large 
confidence that virtue will in the long run furnish its own effective 
sanctions California has sought to build her moral life. "She 
has shown her faith in the power of noble ideas by simply setting 
before them an open door." 

The religious life of the State is characterized as well by its 
missionary zeal. The churches which are here are the results of 
missionary gifts and enterprise on the part of others in the early 
history of the land, and the heirs of this gracious legacy are re- 
solved to hand on the inheritance, not diminished, but increased. 
The readiness of the various congregations to respond to appeals 
for contributions to advance religious work in the lumber camps 
and mining towns, in the lonely villages and the sparsely settled 
regions, is proverbial. The mountains and the arid regions which 
cut us off from immediate contact with the rest of the country 
but serve to strengthen the feeling of fellowship and brotherhood 
among Calif ornians ; and the interest of the cities in the country, 
of the older communities in the newer, promotes this warm and 
sympathetic missionary interest which aids steadily in the fur- 
therance of righteousness. 

The situation of California, fronting on the Pacific and looking 
across toward great populations yet to be inspired by higher ideals 
than those furnished by their own ruder faiths, acts also as a stim- 
ulus to foreign missionary enterprise. The prevailing sentiment is 
that the whole Pacific Coast has come to a sublime period in its 
history. The oldest homes of civilization were inland. In the 
valleys of the Euphrates and of the Nile the children of men 
built their early cities, planting their homes along the great rivers. 
But as the strength and the ambition of the race were enlarged 
the seats of civilization were transferred to the greater body of 
water, when Tyre and Corinth, Rome and Constantinople, became 
the nerve centers of the world's enlarging life around the Medi- 
terranean. But civilization grew apace until it removed to the 
borders of the still greater Atlantic— London and Liverpool, Ham- 
burg and New York, became centers of influence and power. But 
today, as never before, the interest of the world is upon and 



MORAL AND RELIGIOUS LIFE IN CALIFORNIA. 175 

around that greatest of all the oceans, and wise men in the 
political and commercial councils of the world are saying that the 
Pacific will be the future theater of the world's most important 
events. It becomes, therefore, of vital importance that our na- 
tion should face that ocean with the spiritual frontage of a robust, 
intelligent and devoted religious life. This obligation is deeply 
felt and it is being met in a generous expression of missionary 
interest on the part of all the religious bodies in California. 

The presence of such a large proportion of men in all the 
churches is remarked at once by those who visit California. David 
Starr Jordan of Stanford University has called California "one 
of earth's male lands," accepting Browning's designation of cer- 
tain regions which call peremptorily for the masculine virtues, 
"The first Saxon settlers," he says, "were men, and in their rude 
civilization women had no part. For years women in California 
were objects of curiosity or of chivalry, disturbing rather than 
cementing influences in society. Even yet California is essen- 
tially a man's state. What we commonly call public opinion— the 
cut-and-dried decision on social and civic questions— is made up 
in the house. It is essentially feminine in its origin, the opinion 
of the home circle as to how men should behave. In Cali- 
fornia there is little of this convention and tradition, for speak- 
ing broadly, in California the virtues of life spring from within 
and are not prescribed from without. In short, California is a 
man's land, with male standards of action— a land where one 
must give and take, stand or fall, as a man." 

The very predominance of the masculine element in the life 
of this younger of the states in the Republic has done much to 
emphasize the responsibility of the man in matters of religion. 
There is among us a smaller percentage of men who hold their re- 
ligion in their wives' names. The mother of Zebedee's children 
is less often compelled to go alone to offer petitions and prayers 
on behalf of her sons while Zebedee is away fishing. The presence 
of this large number of men in the various congregations of the 
State tends to make the preaching direct and practical; it aids 
in keeping religion free from unwholesome mysticism or empty 
sentiment. 

The presence of a larger percentage of criminals than is found 
in some of the older states is sometimes cited to California's dis- 
advantage. If we had only the criminals of our own raising we 
would be ready to stand comparison with the best states of the 
Union. But, as all students of sociology know, the criminals, the 
tramps, the ne'er-do-wells of other states are constantly fleeing 
to the West to escape detection or in the hope of finding an easier 
field for exploitation. They move on until they reach the Pacific 
Ocean, and then, unable either to cross it or to effect a return to 
the abandoned fields in the East, they heap up like drifting sand 
and dirt upon our borders. The accumulation, therefore, of those 
who have gone West, not to grow up with the country, but to 
escape disaster which they had brought upon themselves in other 



176 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

states, accounts in large degree for the greater proportion of the 
criminal element on the western border of our country. 

It would not be of general interest to give here tabulated sta- 
tistics touching the value of church property in California, the 
number of communicants, the wide range of benevolent activity 
to be found in all the religious bodies. If space permitted the in- 
troduction of such figures, California would make a splendid show- 
ing. The growing appreciation on the part of the people as a 
whole touching the wholesome moral influence exerted and the 
humane service rendered by the churches is indicated by the fact 
that four years ago the people, by a handsome majority, adopted 
an amendment to the constitution exempting from taxation all 
church property used exclusively for religious worship, thus bring- 
ing California into line with the other states of the Union. The 
influence of this action is seen already in the erection of more 
permanent, costly and beautiful structures as places of worship 
in all the cities of the State. 

It might seem invidious to name any and not name all the re- 
ligious organizations at work in California, but certain facts seem' 
especially worthy of notice. Some of the largest and best ap- 
pointed schools and convents, hospitals and homes of the Roman 
Catholic Church in America are to be found in California, for, 
from the days of the Spanish grants to the early missionaries of 
that faith, this church has enjoyed great prosperity. The fourth 
largest Congregational church in the United States is located in 
Oakland, California, and one of the largest Presbyterian churches 
in the country is in Los Angeles. One of the stateliest and most 
ornate church buildings in America is that of the Memorial 
Church at Stanford University. The maintenance of their his- 
toric forms of worship in the well-appointed synagogues of all 
the larger cities and the kindly service of their well-organized 
and far-reaching charities, testify alike to the prosperity of the 
many Hebrew congregations. The noble traditions of the Epis- 
copal Church, the glowing zeal of the Methodists, the missionary 
earnestness of the Baptists, the robust faith of the Lutherans, the 
evangelistic activity of the Christians, as well as the character- 
istic notes of religious life in the many other bodies at work 
within the State, all find expression in the flourishing societies 
which bear these various names and labor together in loyal har- 
mony for the triumph of righteousness and peace in a land beau- 
tiful in climate and situation, and growing daily more beautiful in 
its deeper, inner life. 

The splendid showing made by the religious forces of this com- 
monwealth is the more remarkable. when one reflects upon the fact 
that California is essentially a new country. We need only turn 
back fifty years to find a situation just beginning to be touched 
by those forces which make for the permanent prosperity and 
well-being of any state. If one should stand with uncovered head 
at Plymouth Rock in the old commonwealth of Massachusetts, or 
reverently tread the soil of Jamestown, Virginia, the story of 



OUTDOOR LIFE OF CAIilFORNIA, 177 

California's briefer life would seem like a watch in the night 
or as yesterday when it is past. The paint and the varnish are 
scarcely dry on much of the M'ork which contributes to the wel- 
fare of a people. 

Yet religion is naturally a plant of slow growth; it is one of 
the conservative forces of society and does not leap into its full 
strength in a night as do some of its rival influences. Its gentler 
virtues do not thrive in the bustling atmosphere of a gold excite- 
ment or a real-estate boom. It accomplishes its work best where 
it quietly becomes incorporated in the institutions and habits, in 
the sentiments and affections of a people, and thus comes to its 
own appointed fruitage in a nobler, purer and more humane life. 
All this requires time ; and religion has not yet come fully into its 
own here in California, because of the brief period covered by 
the history of the State. 

The Lord of all the values there are began a long time ago, even 
before the building of Solomon's Temple, in order that He might 
have the great sequoias of the Sierra ready for our coming. In 
the far distant past He sowed the seeds of those splendid forests 
which adorn the hillsides in Mariposa and Calaveras. In similar 
fashion, the many people now intent upon the higher life of Cali- 
fornia are today sowing in fidelity and love the seeds of that ma- 
ture, well-developed and effective Christian civilization which in 
spirit and moral quality shall match the glorious climate and the 
wonderful resources of this fair State. And this noble result shall 
not be alone for our security and well-being — it will be for the 
healing of the nations. The gateway of the West is a "Golden 
Gate"— through it comes in the commerce from the Orient that 
shall make the nation rich, and out of it shall go those wholesome 
influences which, as missionaries of the Lord, are to enrich the 
lands beyond the sea with values that perish not. 



THE OUTDOOR LIFE OF CALIFORNIA. 



By WILLIAM GREER HARRISON, 

President of San Francisco Olympic Club. 



We live in our lungs; therefore, anything that improves our 
abode is of importance. The question naturally arises, "What 
is the best method of increasing lung power?" The answer is, 
"Deep breathing of pure air." In other words, the continuous 
exercise of the lungs in inhaling clean air and exhaling impure 
air. Exercise in the open is the way of enlarging the breathing 
capacity of the lungs. 

12 



178 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

Throughout California the conditions of climate are such that 
lung exercise may be indulged in at all times without risk to any 
organ. The temperature of the lungs is never oppressive; no 
blizzards, no cutting winds, no stabbing of the lungs by frozen 
air: a genial, balmy, yet exhilarating atmosphere everywhere. 
San Francisco has a mean temperature of 65 degrees. The tem- 
perature throughout the State makes a mean of about 60 degrees. 
In the interior the air is so dry that at a summer temperature of 
100 degrees, outdoor sports, tramps and mountain climbing are 
as freely indulged in as in the autumn. In mid-winter, outdoor 
amusements, such as long-distance tramps, shooting, fishing, and 
swimming, are enthusiastically pursued. On Christmas day of 
1903, and on New Year's day of 1904, the writer led some seventy- 
five members of the Olympic Club over a fifteen-mile tramp right 
into the Pacific Ocean, where the party breasted the breakers, 
played leapfrog on the shore, and gamboled and scampered like 
lads of ten, and not a man caught cold. All over California there 
is in the air an electrical stimulant which is most bracing and which 
does away with that tired feeling so common elsewhere. 

Then we have the pines, the aroma from which is almost an in- 
toxicant and is the most subtle and effective of lung tonics. 

We have the redwoods; giants, grand, stately towers in the 
forest. The exhalation from these acts upon the lungs as a light 
massage and emollient. 

We have rivers and mountains, lakes and valleys, not exceeded 
in natural beauty anywhere. 

We have pine-clad and brush-clad hills to clamber through, 
which is a joy without limit. The pleasure in hill-climbing is in- 
creased always by the beauty of the landscape, the rivers or the 
ocean, with islands, points, promontories and straits which fill the 
eye everywhere and yield a sense of enjoyment found only in the 
use of the eye and the muscles. 

California is a land of brown shadows and blue skies— the brown 
of the hillside, the blue of the ocean and its reflection in the sky, 
produce unpainted pictures in lavish abundance. Wild flowers — 
unwritten poems— greet you everywhere. Waterfalls, the joy tears 
of the mountain sprites; cascades, in whose music you hear the 
weeping of wood nymphs over dead forest kings. The bubbling, 
babbling brooks, interpreting the song of their silver-coated citi- 
zens ; the cooing of the dove, the whir of the quail, the whiz of the 
snipe, the honking of the wild goose, and the frou-frou of the 
duck— all these are for the man who loves nature and desires to 
be at home with her, and are common everywhere in California. 
Here the sportsman finds his paradise, and here are- 
Birds: Mountain and valley quail, English jacksnipe, wild 
pigeon, blue grouse, sage hen, robin (big, full-bodied birds), 
meadow lark, curlew, black ibis, billhead plover, vacet, willet 
(snipe), king rail, Virginian rail, reed bird, robin snipe, sandpiper. 
Ducks: Widgeon, teal, sprig, gadwell, canvasback, redhead, 
butterball, ruddy, blue-bill, Mexican tree duck, brownhead or 
whistler, mallard, spoonbill. 



OUTDOOR LIFE OF CALIFORNIA. 179 

Big game: Brown or cinnamon bear, black bear, elk, mule 
deer, blacktail deer, silver-gray fox, red fox, California lion 
(puma) . 

Small game: Gray squirrel, pine squirrel; rabbit — cottontail, 
brush and hare; beaver and ground-hog. 

Fish : Salmon — landlocked, quinnat, blueback, hookbill ; trout- 
rainbow, cut-throat, red speckled, brook. Loch Levin, Von Behr; 
rock cod— blue and red; flounders, tomcod, smelt, halibut, barra- 
cuda, striped bass; perch— redtail, surf and big-eye; sole, white 
bait, pompano (butterfish), sturgeon, shad, anchovies, sardines. 

Fish, birds, big game and small game can be reached easily by 
short-rail routes; and then comes the true pleasure of the sport— 




SURF-BATHING IN PACIFIC OCEAN, NEAR CLIFF HOUSE. SAN FRANCISCO NEW 

year's day, 1904. 

the climbing, clambering, tramping; the oxidation of the lungs 
and muscles; the joy, the pure physical joy, of movement; the 
luxury that follows the overcoming of difficulties; the scramble 
over big rocks; the climb over hills carpeted with pine needles, 
and the enthralling sense of victory when the objective point is 
reached. 

Alone in the woods— alone with God! Alone on the mountain 
top, you are reverent and prayerful, but never sad or depressed. 
Breathing in the pure mountain air, you breath in hope, inspira- 
tion, and you would commune with the Master of the World, and 
rejoice that you live and move and find harmony in your heart. 
You can throw your cap peakward and shout like the schoolboy 
out for his holiday; for you have drawn away from and mounted 



180 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

high above the pettiness of the lesser life. You have shuffled off 
the business coil which bound you to your desk ; you are free, and 
the thought of freedom is yours ; and you are buoyant and gleeful 
and in love with all the world. 

California is the home of the artist; indeed, California is an- 
other Italy, and a new Virgil would write the Bucolics and 
Georgics as of and about the Italia of the Pacific. Virgilian de- 
scription of the old Italy exactly fits the newer and richer state. 
But we have color effects here not known, I think, even in Italy, 
Take the hills overlooking San Francisco— INIarin hills— and you 
have a bronze-brown effect in color that is tantalizingly beautiful, 
because you want to catch and hold it as a something too exquisite 
to be left to itself. You have an infinite variety of shadings to 
this weird brown; indeed, there is a kaleidoscopic change, from 
second to second, which is literally fascinating. 

Then our sunsets; in them there is a supreme beauty, since all 
colors, all shades— dazzling, rioting, perplexing— mingle with or 
are a part of the rays which glorify the sky, the hills, the valleys, 
the seas, the ocean, with a light that is as the smile of the Eternal. 
Here is the place in which to breathe the sunshine. Ijight and 
colors are inhaled, and it is time some one explained the beneficent 
effect of the inhalation on the blood and brain and moral nature 
of man. California is the solarium of the world. When the sun 
throws aside the robes of night and breathes hi% morning benedic- 
tion, until his evening prayer, when his lingering blessing touches 
everything with his kiss, there is a golden dusk or a sun-charged 
atmosphere in which man may drink a newer, richer draught 
of life. 

And the ocean, the Pacific; never monotonously peaceful; just 
a vast champagne bath, a universal salt glow, where massage is 
free to all the world. Always open, never a bar to ingress; no ice, 
no snow; a storm only momentary and joyous excitement. The 
roar of the breakers an organ peal, the swell a flowing song, the 
spmne an electric bath. Summer or winter, never a day when you 
can not safely enter the Pacific, plunging and swimming, breasting 
breakers or high waves, with a feeling of victorious pleasure and 
a sense of fitness that is a promise of eternal youth. 

From San Francisco to San Diego and thence to Catalina Island 
there are bays, inlets, roadsteads, where foaming steeds, white 
horses of the sea, rush madly to the shore. Here the strong 
swimmer finds joy inexpressible. Dashing under the swirling 
breakers he floats triumphantly for a moment in the long hollows 
of the ocean, and then with an increasing vigor again and again 
evades the rush of waters and with practiced arms steers his way 
to the sea incarnadine that lies like another sky beyond the 
breakers. Here, summer or winter, he flings aside the resisting 
waters and heads oceanward — a long, steady pressure, an over- 
head stroke or a side stroke carries him far from view, until pres- 
ently he turns shoreward with rapid strokes when he once more 
margins the breakers. These he uses like a circus rider, and mounts 



OUTDOOR LJFE OP CALIFOKNIA. 



181 



horse after horse until he is once more on the shore lines. The 
strength of it, the joy of it, only the swimmer can feel. 

And all this in winter as safely as in summer. Indeed, it is 
absurd to talk of winter in the Golden State. All days are open 
to the athlete and his pleasures. 

If you tire of the old ocean, then turn your eyes lakeward. 
Tahoe sits in the Sierra like a great golden-gray bowl, full of limpid 
water teeming with silver-coated trout; guarded by mountain 
ranges so weird in form and in color that one naturally looks for 
the gnomes, elfs, goblins, which have, or ought to have, their homes 
in the curious crevices, caverns, brakes, peaks, domes, curves, and 
bends which make of Mount Tallac and his kin a giant's causeway 




A SWIMMING PARTY AT ALAMEDA — CHRISTMAS DAY, 1S03. 

leading to a land of delight. Tahoe is 6,000 feet above the sea 
level ; Mount Tallac is 3,000-odd feet above the lake, and from its 
rugged peak you look down upon a score of lakes set like precious 
gems in a setting of emerald green. The tramp to Tallac 's gray 
top is just rough enough to give an added interest; it is a stiff 
climb, but when the peak is under your feet you forget everything 
except the glory and the joy of the vista. 

You tire of the lake scenery? Then off to the McCloud river 
for trout, or to Monterey bay for salmon trolling, or the Sacra- 
mento for perch and salmon. Oh, I could name you hundreds of 
places in which to be glad that God made you! 

Once a year, usually in the month of August, members of the 
Bohemian Club of San Francisco shake the city dust from their 



182 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

feet and for three weeks make their home in the heart of a red- 
wood forest. ' ' 'Neath the green sentinels, whose feathery plumes 
sweep the patines of Heaven," they pitch their tents and abandon 
themselves to a life that is in harmony with Nature. The fisher- 
man fishes and the pedestrian makes his ten or fifteen miles daily, 
whilst others lie prone on the bosom of Mother Earth, breathing 
in the forest air with a sense of pure enjoyment. The singer and 
the story-teller weave fancies that find expression in music and 
literature and painting. Others group themselves in nooks and 
hollows and wonder what the record of the giant trees would read 
like if only Nature enabled them to reveal their knowledge. These 
trees were above ground long before the Babylonian empire fell. 
They were lofty pillars of the forest when Joseph went down into 
Egypt, and they were probably full grown when Christ was taken 
by another Joseph to the land of Pharaohs. Europe was the home 
of barbarous tribes when these felt their full growth ; and civiliza- 
tion after civilization appeared, fulfilled its destiny and was 
succeeded by new thoughts, new purposes, these to make room for 
the dominant purpose of today. Yet these trees lived and breathed 
ere England or America had a name or a place upon the map of 
the world. 

California is the only country in the world, I think, where mid- 
summer is entirely free of rain and where it would be possible to 
spend three or four weeks absolutely in the open. 

Polo, football, baseball and tennis are playable all the year 
through; and golf, lacrosse and cricket are only temporarily re- 
tarded by the degree of wet in the soil after our annual shower 
bath. Thousands of our young lads and lasses pay no attention 
to rain, but pursue their walks in wet weather as in dry. Indeed, 
few outdoor pursuits are affected by our wet season. We have 
usually three or four days' rain, followed by a fortnight of the 
most delightful weather— clear, bright, sunful days when one re- 
joices in life. 

In the bay counties we have sea fogs, which are of infinite ser- 
vice to all growing things, and are to many a source of pleasure in 
their effect upon the skin. 

But the great charm of California is that always and everywhere 
you can live in the open, except in the brief interval when rain is 
most abundant. 

Fullness of days, rather than length, is the desideratum. A 
weak man is a travesty on Nature. Better fifty years of strenuous, 
full life than one hundred years of vegetable existence. But in 
California long life and full days go together. In the free, open 
life of the Golden State there is no excuse for lack of health ; only 
the inherently indolent suffer. All who accept the treasures of 
the air, the sea, the forest, and the ocean as their own put on the 
full garb of man and woman and live such a full life as can be 
lived only in California. 

The joy of living; the rapid-coursing, life-making blood; the 
clean, full lungs; the buoyancy of youth in middle-aged man— these 
are ours, and we thank God for life ! 



California's health resorts. 183 



CALIFORNIA'S HEALTH RESORTS. 



Bt a. J. WELLS. 



For the healing of the "ills to which flesh is heir," California 
has over two hundred mineral springs of known excellence, and 
health resorts too numerous to be here even catalogued. They are 
distributed over the whole State, and under climatic conditions so 
beneficent and so general as to make the State itself a health resort. 

The serene skies and atmospheric peace; the absence 
The of "winter and rough weather"; the dry air of the 

Climate. cloudless summers ; the breath of pine forests that are 

never damp, and the salt air of a sea whose habit is 
not stormy, have made California a Land of Health. No other 
country in the world with such range of latitude can show such 
climatic unity. There is a sea climate and a land climate, but save 
as modified by nearness to the ocean or by elevation in the moun- 
tains, the climate of the State is one. Lines of latitude hardly 
count. Oranges ripen in the upper Sacramento valley as finely 
as in the groves of San Diego, 600 miles south; and the summer 
sojourner about Lake Tahoe or Mount Shasta finds the same tem- 
perature that he would find at a like elevation in the mountains 
of Southern California. 

And not even the countries which border the Mediterranean, 
where the same physical causes operate to produce a genial air, 
can show winters so mild, or summers so dry, or so free from cold 
and irritating or hot and enervating winds, as in California. 
Winter shows a green world, and makes all the land save in the 
high mountains a miracle of color. There are rainy days and days 
of storm, but there are weeks of sunshine, and sunshine when it 
comes is not an intermittent escape from objecting clouds. The 
skies are blue, the atmosphere cleansed and all the air radiant, 
equable, hygienic, rejuvenating. Summer is everywhere dry, and 
though in the interior it may be hot at noon, the absence of mois- 
ture produces a rapid evaporation, reduces bodily temperature, 
and makes sunstroke a thing unknown. Then, too, the dry atmos- 
phere provides for rapid radiation from the surface of the earth 
at night, quickly dissipates the heat of the day, and insures cool 
and refreshing hours for sleep. 

Now, it is in such a setting as this that the mineral 
Mineral springs are found. For the most part they are in the 
Spring's. foothills, in the driest and finest air, where the only 

dampness discoverable is in the bathtub, and where 
no breath of malaria ever comes. From the first of May to the 
middle of October no rain falls, no storms blow, no changes of 
weather occur. A hundred localities during this season are like 



184 



CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 



that place in Persia where it is said they have no weather, so like 
each other are the days and weeks as to excite no comment. 

Mineral springs in California, as elsewhere in the world, are 
classified as alkaline, saline, sulphur and iron, and many of them 
are as valuable as any in Europe. A study of authorities on this 
subject shows that nature has widely distributed the elements 
which enter into the composition of mineral waters, and that there- 
fore many California springs are almost identical in composition 
with famous European springs. Thus Aetna Springs, in Napa 
county, California, shows suifficient similarity with the noted Ems 
water of Germany to warrant like physiological and therapeutical 
action. Compare the following tables: 



^TNA SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA. 

Alkaline water. Temperature, 98° F. 

Mineral Ingredients. u^ s^l^llfon. 

Sodium chloride j 29 

Sodium carbonate 75 

Sodium sulphate 8 

Potassium sulphate trace 

Magnesium carbonate 14 

Calcium carbonate .-. 10 

Ferrous carbonate trace 

Silica trace 

Total solids 136 

Carbonic acid gas (cubic inches) 58 



EMS, GERMANY. 
Alkaline water. Temperature, IIS"* F. 

Minora! Ingredients. ,?.''|.^Saflon. 

Sodium chloride 62 

Sodium carbonate 84 

Sodium sulphate trace 

Potassium sulphate 3 

Magnesium carbonate 7 

Calcium carbonate 10 

Ferrovis carbonate trace 

Silica ....-- iJ 

Total solids-. 169 

Carbonic acid gas (cubic inches) 59 



So also the Santa Ysabel Warm Sulphur Springs on the coast 
line of the Southern Pacific Railroad, nearly midway between San 
Francisco and Los Angeles, are shown by Dr. Winslow Anderson 
to be very similar to the famous Arkansas Springs at Little Rock, 
Arkansas. The waters are tonic, antacid, diuretic, aperient and 
alterative, and while not advertised, or used as a resort, the springs 
have for centuries been used by the Indians, and later by the Mexi- 
cans and the Mission Fathers. 

Not far away are the El Paso de Robles Hot Springs. These 
are among the best known in the State, and are amply provided 
for the entertainment of guests, having a great hotel and magnifi- 
cent bath house. The waters of the springs are sulphurous and 
alkaline, and vary in temperature from 59 degrees to 104 and 122 
degrees Fahrenheit. There is a white sulphur spring, an iron 
or chalybeate spring, a mud spring, a soda spring and an alkalo- 
sulphurous spring. These waters are specially serviceable in acute 
and chronic rheumatism, in blood, glandular and cutaneous af- 
fections, in kidney and bladder irritations, in catarrhal and other 
troubles of the mucous membrane. The mud baths for rheumatic 
affections are probably as good as any in the world, and will be 
increasingly resorted to as they become known. The iron spring 
is valuable in cases of anemia, chronic malarial poisoning, and the 
many diseases requiring an iron tonic. The situation is charming, 
on the coast line of the Southern Pacific Railroad, about sixteen 
miles from the ocean, immediately at the town of Paso Robles, 



186 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC, 

and in a beautiful oak-dotted landscape. Climatically the region 
is wholly delightful. 

The Gilroy Hot Springs are in the Santa Clara mountains near 
Gilroy, and have more than a local celebrity. For skin eruptions, 
scrofulous and glandular swellings, syphilitic and rheumatic af- 
fections, the water is used internally and for baths with great 
success. 

The Tassajara Springs, in Monterey county, are hot, saline and 
sulphurous, and are used locally. 

The Paraiso Hot Springs are also in Monterey county, and are 
Avidely known. The elevation is about 1,400 feet, and the air dry 
and pure. The springs are sulphur, soda and iron. The chief car- 
bonated spring is called the ' ' Carlsbad of America, ' ' and is found 
by analysis to be very similar to the noted Carlsbad of Austria. 
It is said to be of great value in gouty affections, rheumatism, 
liver and kidney troubles, and chronic skin diseases. 

Pacific Congress Springs are in Santa Clara county, not far 
from San Jose. The waters are of the alkalo-chalybeate class, 
good for the anemic and dyspeptic, and are prized for table use. 
They are locally popular. The waters are similar to the noted 
Congress Springs of Saratoga, New York. 

The Santa Barbara Hot Springs and the Montecito Hot Springs 
are five and six miles from Santa Barbara, in the Santa Ynez 
mountains. They are valuable carbonated and sulphur waters, 
antacid and helpful in dyspepsia and acid conditions of blood and 
urine, in gouty affections. Bright 's disease and troubles of the 
liver. The waters resemble the Hot Springs in Arkansas. 

The Matilija Hot Springs are much resorted to in Ventura 
county, are finely situated, and in a delightful climate. 

The Arrowhead Hot Springs, near San Bernardino, are called 
calcic, or earthy. They have a local celebrity and are of un- 
doubted value. 

The San Juan Capistrano Springs are near the coast, and are 
locally well known. 

The Coronado Springs are on the finger of land upon which 
the great hotel is builded, on San Diego bay, and are said to com- 
pare favorably with the Bethesda Spring of Waukesha, Wiscon- 
sin. The waters are called aperient, diuretic and tonic. 

The Tia Juana Hot Springs are just across the line in Lower 
California, but are tributary to San Diego. 

Carlsbad, north of San Diego, is similar to the celebrated Carls- 
bad Springs of Germany and the Kissingen Springs of Bohemia. 
The Temecula Hot Springs are the most noted in San Diego 
county. 

Byron Hot Springs are in the San Joaquin valley, or rather in 
a small valley leading from the larger one. They are in Contra 
Costa county, not far from Mount Diablo, on the railroad line 
from San Francisco to Stockton via Martinez. The time is about 
three hours from San Francisco. What is known as the "liver 
and kidney spring" is strongly charged with sodium chloride. 



California's health resorts. 187 

and is called "heavy saline" by the chemists. It is diuretic and 
slightly laxative. The hot mud spring, the hot salt spring, the 
black sulphur spring, the white sulphur spring, and the iron and 
alkaline and chalybeate water are all used at this resort for various 
ills, either internally or as baths. The "iron spring" is a well- 
known remedy for fever and ague and malarial chills, and has 
been used by invalids for many years. 

Bartlett Springs, in Lake county, were discovered in 1856, and 
have maintained their early reputation, and thousands have been 
benefited or wholly cured by the use of the waters. Rheumatic 
and chronic malarial affections, diseases of the liver and kidneys, 
dyspepsia, eczema, etc., are relieved or wholly cured. The springs 
are charged with carbonic anhydride, and are pleasant, sparkling, 
carbonated waters. They are called diuretic, laxative and altera- 
tive in their effects. 

Equally well known are the Anderson Springs, also in Lake 
county. The springs are easily accessible, either from Calistoga 
or from Cloverdale, and the climate is unexcelled by any place 
in the world. One could live out of doors without tent or 
shelter from April to October. There are nine principal springs, 
hot, cold, salino-sulphuretted, alkalo-sulphuretted, salino-acidulous. 
They are widely popular, and have been used by many thousands 
with great satisfaction. 

Other well-known springs in Lake county are Adams, Allen, 
Harbin, Highland, Howard, Seigler, Saratoga and Witters. These 
are all celebrated beyond their immediate locality, and are largely 
patronized year after year. Lake county is called the "Switzer- 
land of America." Its scenery is attractive, and its climate un- 
surpassed by any other portion of the State. 

In Napa county are soda springs known abroad, the water 
being widely distributed. The situation of the Napa Springs is 
charming, and the buildings commodious and impressive. The 
"White Sulphur Springs are also in Napa county, near St. Helena, 
and the Calistoga Mineral Springs at the town of the same name. 

Sonoma county has the celebrated "Geysers"— a marvelous re- 
gion, full of steam and sulphurous vapors and uncanny noises, the 
f umaroles of a volcanic district. The springs are ' ' iron, " " alum, ' ' 
"acid," "salino-sulphurous," and " salino-boric-sulphurous, " and 
are used both internally and for bathing. They are largely patron- 
ized, and are among the most valuable in any country. Mark West 
Springs, Lytton Seltzer and Soda Springs, Santa Rosa White Sul- 
phur Springs and Skaggs Springs are in Sonoma county, and are 
well known throughout the State for their curative qualities. 

Tehama has the Tuscan or Lick Springs, "Red," "White" and 
"Black," which resemble the famous Blue Lick Springs of 
Kentucky. 

The Vichy in Mendocino county ranks among the finest on the 
coast, being in action and chemical composition almost identical 
with "Ems on the Lahn, " Germany. 

Shasta Soda Springs, near Mount Shasta, are much prized. The 



188 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

trains of the Southern Pacific stop at the great springs, and the 
whole region is a well-known resort. 

The Wilbur Springs in Colusa county are deservedly popular, 
as are the Klamath Hot Springs in Siskiyou county, while other 
sections of the State have medicinal springs that are more or less 
locally resorted to for physical benefit. 

These cover the State, and are of two classes, the 

Resorts. mountains and the seaside. They embrace hotels of 
the highest grade, and outdoor camps. Coronado is 
in the extreme south, and unsurpassed on any coast for climate 
and comfort. Santa Catalina is an island in a summer sea, and 
one of the most delightful places in the world for rest and recrea- 
tion. Long Beach, Redondo, San Pedro, Santa Monica, Pasadena, 
Redlands, Riverside, and Los Angeles itself, are both summer and 
winter resorts, where, if the season be wisely chosen, we are not 
oppressed by heat or beleaguered by storms. The San Ber- 
nardino moun^tains are much frequented in summer, and have a 
delightful air. 

Southern California as a whole, along its placid ocean front or 
in its dry and balsamic mountain air, is what "Baedeker" says 
of it, "perhaps the most delightful climate in the world. * * * 
More salubrious general conditions can nowhere be found." This 
applies to both winter and summer, if one chooses, with ordinary 
sagacity, localities to suit the calendar. A kind of "lotus land" 
it is, where, after tarrying a year or two, one loses all desire to 
return to the land of greater rigors. The growth of its towns 
and cities is a tribute to the climatic peace of the land, thousands 
being allured westward by something in the atmosphere which the 
worn term "semi-tropic" hints at but does not describe. 

Santa Barbara, by the records of her annual temperature and 
by the absence of the mistral and African sirocco, outrivals the 
Riviera, and has an Eastern and European contingent year by 
year to attest the quality of her climate. Paso Robles, aside from 
its baths, is a charming resort, and Monterey, Del Monte, Pacific 
Grove, and Santa Cruz are in every way desirable for any season 
of the year. For scenery, for recreation, for the freedom of the 
wilderness, with the luxury of a palace, for magnificent gardens 
and drives, with golf and polo on winter lawns and grassy fields, 
Del Monte is an ideal place of rest. San Jose in winter is full of 
sunshine. San Francisco has attractions of its own quite unlike 
any other place. Its autumns are delightful, its summer days 
bracing and tonic, and winter sunshine when it comes is radiant 
and lifegiving. 

A chief of the Weather Bureau has said of the City by the Bay : 
"If a native of San Francisco were asked which was the coldest 
month of the year he might be unable to answer; and if asked 
which was the warmest, he might say November. This confusion 
arises from the comparatively small range of temperature." The 
records for twenty-eight years show that the warmest month was 
September, 60.90 degrees; the coldest, January, 50.10 degrees. 



190 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

This, of course, means the average temperature for the month. A 
hot day in summer is very rare, and winter has weeks of sunshine 
with an air that is bracing, invigorating, rarely cold, and often so 
nearly ideal as to invite one to forsake shop and office, and stay 
out of doors. Save on rainy days the band plays every Sunday 
in Golden Gate Park, and thousands crowd the seats and walks 
and driveways, or wander on the beach itself. 

And down the peninsula on which San Francisco is builded ; at 
Burlingame, San Mateo, Belmont, Menlo Park, the country seats 
of wealth and fashion, and at Palo Alto, the seat of the great Stan- 
ford University with its splendid buildings, the climate of the sea 
spreads out like a fan, modified, tempered by distance and by in- 
tervening hills, but making a delightful all-the-year air. 

So across the bay to the north, on the Marin shore, there are 
picturesque towns and summer residences; sheltered nooks very 
charming all winter; while farther back are the big trees, the red- 
wood groves— the resort of Bohemians ; and looming above the bay 
and its cities is Mount Tamalpais, with Mill valley at its foot, full 
of homes, and a wonderfully crooked railroad climbing to the 
mountain-top, and about all the sea air, with its iodynes, and the 
entrancing vision spread out from the hotel on the summit. 

The eastern shore of the bay has Berkeley, the seat of the State 
University; has Oakland with its background of sunny foothills, 
and Alameda, more out of the range of the direct air-currents of 
Golden Gate, and brooded by a more tranquil air than the Bay 
city. The towns farther inland, but clustered about the bay, all 
have a modified sea climate, and as delightful for either summer 
or winter residences as the State can show. Golf links, tennis 
courts; bicycling, automobiling, driving or walking over the in- 
comparable roads; winter recreations of some sort, are going on 
nearly all the time. 

"You see," one enthusiast said, half apologetically, "there's so 
much out of doors here ' ' ; and the first comers to this land built 
chimneys only for the kitchen, used the house for shelter, and lived 
out of doors. A climate that clothes the fields with emerald in 
January, and invites the invalid out of doors for ten months out 
of the twelve; that has all the charm of the tropics without their 
perils— this is the climate that spreads about the chief metropolis 
of California, but made tonic and stimulating by the breath of 
the sea. 

For mountain scenery, delightful forests, wild canyons, swift 
trout streams, glacial lakes, wonderful valleys, and meadows at 
8,000 and 10,000 feet elevation, ablaze with flowers ; for months of 
sunshine, unbroken by a cloud, unruffled by wind, unvisited by 
changes of weather ; for dry air and dewless nights, the far valleys 
by day wrapped in haze, and the high peaks shrouded in snow; 
for all this California is unrivaled. The Shasta region, the region 
of Lake Tahoe, the Yosemite valley, Hetch Hetchy valley, Te- 
hipitee valley. Kings River canyon— a second Yosemite— the Royal 
Gorge of the Kern river, wilder and longer and vaster than Kings ; 



TRAVELING IN CALIFORNIA. 191 

the Giant Forest on the sunny plateaus between the Kings river 
and Kaweah river; many thousand magnificent sequoias and a 
greenwood to delight Robin Hood — why, after thirty years the 
writer is persuaded that no other country offers such beauty, such 
sublimity, such splendor of cliff and peak, tree and river, canyon 
and waterfall, such variety of interests and attractions, such wild- 
ness, remoteness, and sense of seclusion, yet so readily accessible, 
and over all such changeless skies, such healing and balsamic air, 
such absence of storms through the long summers, such luxury of 
sunshine without oppressive heat even at noon, as the mountains 
of California. 

And when we consider the long seacoast, the air charged with 
ozone, placid, equable, tonic and invigorating, and the foothills, 
dry and warm, the land of the camper and summer lounger, and 
the medicinal springs everywhere, to suit every taste, to relieve 
every ill that mineral waters can, it would seem that the assertion 
with which we began is justified, and that California itself is a 
health resort. It is more : it is the outing-place beyond compari- 
son, the playground of the world, and if "climate makes up fully 
one-half of human happiness," we have not said too much about 
that elusive thing which the invalid and the tourist alike seek, and 
which makes the charm of California. 



TRAVELING IN CALIFORNIA. 



By ELWYN HOFFMAN. 



California can not be measured by the same yard-stick with 
which we measure other states and countries of the world. Who- 
ever attempts to do such a thing will soon find himself at a loss 
as to how he shall proceed, and will finally come to the conclusion 
that here is a land distinct and apart from all others — one that 
must be judged entirely by itself. In its climate, its products, 
and in nearly everything else, California stands apart. Even in 
its transportation facilities this "Land beyond the West" is alto- 
gether unlike any other state. 

The traveler in California will not only find many of the best 
features known to transportation anywhere, but he may also enjoy 
more unique and interesting features than he will be able to find 
in any other state in the Union. Not alone may he traverse the 
valleys in the luxurious cars of transcontinental flyers, but he may 
travel on scenic roads that wind picturesquely up rugged moun- 
tains; he may make memorable trips through dark redwood forests 
on rushing lumber trains ; speed over the smooth waterways on 
fine steamers, or go down to cities by the sea on swiftly flying 
electric cars. 



192 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

Within a few miles of San Francisco the traveler will find a 
most interesting bit of railroading. The Mount Tamalpais Scenic 
Railway is famous as "the crookedest railroad in the world," and 
it deserves its title. Winding up to the mountain's crest, from 
which splendid views may be had of all the surrounding coun- 
try—the harbor of San Francisco, the city and its environs — 
this railroad makes such a lot of bewildering turns that the 
traveler can not help but realize that here is something distinctly 
out of the usual. Then there is the road up Mount Lowe, but a 
short distance from Los Angeles, which takes one up a steep in- 
cline, more as a "lift" than as a railway, to the Swift Observa- 
tory and Alpine Tavern, thousands of feet about sea level. The 
famous Tehachapi Loop of the Southern Pacific Company is still 
another interesting feature in railroading to interest the traveler. 

But travel in the Golden State is not confined to rail. Cali- 
fornia has particularly fine waterways. The San Joaquin and 
Sacramento rivers drain the greater portion of the State, the latter 
being open to navigation for a distance of two hundred miles. 
The bay of San Francisco is one of the largest and finest in the 
world, and all sorts of craft plough its waters. 

Staging in California is not today what it was years ago, before 
the shining steel of the railroads was laid up and down the broad 
valleys and over the mountains. Yet even now, the traveler may 
experience something of that which made the glory of the "other 
■day." The most famous stage lines in California, and perhaps 
in the world, are those from Raymond and Merced to the Yosemite 
Valley. One there finds the good old-time stage coaches, the dash- 
ing teams and the skillful drivers told of in the narratives of 
other times. The stage roads are oiled during the summer season, 
and a ride over them is counted one of the finest trips in the State. 
Raymond is the Southern Pacific's route to the great valley, the 
Santa Fe reaching Yosemite from Merced, by an interesting stage 
line which passes en route the Merced big trees. 

All these things give piquancy to travel in California, and 
make the traveler realize that the State is unique even in its 
transportation. 

The traveler who comes to California by rail has a wide choice 
of routes. The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad enters the 
State at its southern door. The Grand Canyon of Arizona, the 
cliff dwellings and the petrified forests are on the line of this rail- 
road, and are so much a part of the sight-seeing of a California 
trip that they may be properly mentioned in this article, although 
they occur a little before crossing the California line. 

The Southern Pacific Company reaches the State by three 
routes. The Shasta route enters California from Portland, 
Oregon, across the Siskiyou mountains, through some of the finest 
scenery in the world. Indeed, this is a great scenic route, and 
many a traveler has looked out upon the heavily wooded moun- 
tains and the dark gorges, and felt his heart stir within him long 
before the train, rushing down toward the sunny valley of the 



TRAVELING IN CALIFORNIA. 



193 



Sacramento, bore him into view of hoary, majestic Mount Shasta. 
The Ogden route brings one into the State across the Sierra 
Nevadas, through a wonderland of grand views, from Lookout 
Mountain to famous Cape Horn. The Sunset route comes in from 
New Orleans via Yuma, through the same great southern gateway- 
utilized by the Santa Fe. Both companies afford the traveler 
everything that is up to date and luxurious, and their trains are 
reckoned among the finest in the world. At one time it was a 
long distance from the East to California, but today it does not 
seem so far. The trip that took the pioneers so long to make 
"across the plains" is now but a matter of hours. Three days 
from Chicago will land one at San Francisco. 




UNION FERKY DEPOT, SAN FRANCISCO. 

California has an area in square mile's larger than the com- 
bined areas of New York, New Jersey, Vermont, Maine, New 
Hampshire, Connecticut, Ohio and Massachusetts. There are 
thirty-five steam roads operating in the State today, with a total 
mileage of about six thousand. Many of these are held by lease 
or otherwise, so that they form part of the two principal railroads 
of California— the Southern Pacific and the Santa Fe. The 
Southern Pacific is the pioneer line, being practically California's 
first railroad, the present company having grown out of the 
Sacramento Valley road and the Central Pacific. The first rail- 
road connecting California with the East was started at Sacra- 
mento in 1863, and was built through the rocky barriers of the 
Sierra Nevada mountains. 

13 



194 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

The principal railroads in California at present are the lines 
through the San Joaquin and Sacramento valleys, the coast lines, 
and the lines in Southern California. These cover the greater por- 
tion of the State, and afford the traveler transportation facilities 
to nearly every point to which he may want to go. 

Let us suppose that the traveler enters California by the Shasta 
route. After crossing the Siskiyou mountains at the northern end 
of the State, and passing Mount Shasta, he is brought do^Ti the 
canyon of the Sacramento river to the head of the great Sacra- 
mento valley. Wlien the traveler arrives at this point he is at the 
northern end of the great interior basin of California, and just 
about to enter one of the great agricultural sections of the State. 
And there at the head of the valley he will be confronted by 
the question of routes. The main line branches here, one branch 
swinging away through the rich farming country on the Avest side 
of the valley, while the other follows the course of the Sacramento 
river, branching again before the lower end of the valley is 
reached. By these lines the traveler can reach any part of the 
Sacramento valley, and by still other branches turn aside into the 
rich foothill districts. The Ogden route of the Southern Pacific 
comes into the Sacramento valley at its lower end, and both of 
these lines join it and take the traveler to San Francisco. 

Both the Southern Pacific and the Santa Fe enter the San 
Joaquin valley at its southern extremity, coming in over the 
Tehachapi mountains on the same track. The former has two 
main lines the entire length of the valley, while the Santa Fe has 
two main lines for over half the distance. All the principal cities 
in the San Joaquin valley are connected by these lines, and there 
are several loop lines and branches which tap outlying sections. 
One of the Southern Pacific's branch lines reaches Raymond, the 
point at which travelers take stage for Yosemite Valley and the 
Big Trees. The Yosemite route of the Santa Fe is from Merced,, 
on its main line. 

Just as the rivers which drain this great interior basin turn at 
last and flow into San Francisco bay, so do all these various lines 
of railroad make their way to the western edge of the State until, 
broadly speaking, they enter San Francisco at the same point. 
The Santa Fe line terminates at Point Richmond and Oakland, 
and the lines of the Southern Pacific at Oakland, both places being 
just across the bay from San Francisco. 

San Francisco, being the principal city and main seaport of 
the Pacific Coast, constitutes the objective point for transporta- 
tion lines. The traveler will find it easy to leave San Francisco 
in any direction which he may want to go. Besides the lines just 
spoken of, there are other roads which come into San Francisco. 
The California & Northwestern runs from San Francisco a dis- 
tance of some two hundred miles northward through the fertile 
Sonoma and Russian River valleys, bringing the traffic of those rich 
sections to the metropolis. There is a coast line of the Southern 
Pacific system running down the San Francisco peninsula. The 
North Shore Railroad passes north through picturesque Marin 



TRAVELING IN CALIFORNIA. 



195 



county, and will carry the traveler to the immediate north coast. 
The Mount Tamalpais Scenic Railway connects with this line, and 
gives the traveler the unusual experience of its wonderful, winding 
route. 

The traveler will see ships of all nations in the great harbor of 
San Francisco, and perhaps may note, in-coming or out-going, the 
great liners of the Pacific Mail, the Occidental & Oriental, or the 
Oceanic steamship companies, bound to or from China, Japan, 
Hawaiian Islands, the Philippines or Australia. Or he may note 
the steamers of the Pacific Coast Steamship Company, which reach 
all the ports of the Pacific coast. Central and South America, and 
Alaska. Here, too, he may see other steamers leaving San Fran- 




FEKEYBOAT SOLANO — LARGEST IN THE WORLD. 

On main line of Southern Pacific. Conveys two whole trains at one trip. 

cisco for Alaska, Cape Nome, and other northern points, and may 
also notice on the bay the river steamers from the San Joaquin 
and the Sacramento. All the railroads which enter San Francisco 
have fine transfer steamers on the bay, so that the traveler finds no 
difficulty in crossing at any hour he wishes. 

The traveler may go from San Francisco to Los Angeles by 
two routes. The Southern Pacific will take him by its coast line 
"the way of the missions," and either the Southern Pacific or the 
Santa Fe will carry him by the other route, through the San 
Joaquin valley. The coast line covers the country from San Fran- 
cisco to Los Angeles, with many loop lines and branches, and 
afi^ords the traveler a chance to visit all the important places along 
the coast for that distance. The main line goes south down the 
San Francisco peninsula, while a broadgauge and a narrowgauge 



196 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

line leave Oakland and Alameda respectively, and reach San Jose, 
in the heart of the Santa Clara valley, via the east side of the bay. 
The narrowgauge runs west to Santa Cruz, while the main line 
continues southward. One of the most important branch lines is 
the line that runs out of Castroville, reaching famous Hotel Del 
Monte, Monterey and Pacific Grove. From Castroville the main 
line takes the traveler to Paso Robles, San Luis Obispo, Santa 
Barbara and then to Los Angeles. 

The city of Los Angeles is another objective point for trans- 
portation, and it is here that all the lines of Southern California 
converge. The Sunset route of the Southern Pacific comes to Los 
Angeles, and the Santa Fe reaches it by the Southern California 
Railroad, which is a part of its system. By this latter line the 
traveler may reach San Diego, and all that portion of the State 
which lies along the coast immediately south of Los Angeles. It 
also reaches Coronado Beach and many other famous resorts. 

The Santa Fe in Southern California has many attractive trips 
to offer, but swinging around the "Kite-shaped track" is the one 
that appeals to those who desire to get a glimpse of the most char- 
acteristic scenes in the shortest time. It embraces a ride over one 
hundred and sixty-six miles of railway through scenes which illus- 
trate the beauties of Southern California. It is unique in the fact 
that not one mile of the trip is duplicated, and at only one point, 
San Bernardino, where the two lines cross, is the same scene twice 
viewed. It begins and ends at Los Angeles, and may be traveled 
either going via Pasadena, returning via Orange, or vice versa. 
The more popular way is from Los Angeles through the Arroyo 
Seco to Pasadena, Santa Anita (Baldwin's ranch), Monrovia, 
Azusa, Upland, North Cucamonga, Rialto, San Bernardino, Red- 
lands, Mentone, Highland and Arrowhead; Colton, Riverside, 
Corona, Santa Ana canyon, Orange, Fullerton and La Mirada, 
back to Los Angeles. It can be made in a day. The drive or 
electric car ride either to Smiley Heights in Redlands, or down 
Magnolia and Victoria avenues at Riverside, will well repay any 
person desirous of viewing these beautiful places. 

The "inside track" of the Southern Pacific covers a large por- 
tion of the country southeast of Los Angeles, and will take the 
traveler to Riverside, San Bernardino, Pasadena, and other places 
in the heart of the orange district. 

The San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad, the new 
Clark line, is only partially completed at present, but will be fin- 
ished soon. This line will certainly be an important factor in the 
transportation development of Southern California. It will ex- 
tend from San Pedro to Los Angeles, and thence across the Mojave 
desert to Nevada. "When this line has been completed, the traveler 
will have still another route into California. 

The southeastern part of the State is reached by the Carson & 
Colorado Railroad, a line in the Southern Pacific system which en- 
ters at the town of Queen and runs to Keeler, on the edge of Death 
valley. This line gives transportation facilities to Mono and Inyo 
counties, and to the Tonopah mining district of Nevada. 



FRANCISCAN MISSIONS OF CALIFORNIA. 197 

The Nevada, California & Oregon Railroad is an important line 
in the northeastern part of the State, and will probably become of 
much more importance in the future. This road enters Cali- 
fornia at Purdy, Plumas county, and runs northward a distance 
of one hundred miles to Termo, Lassen county, giving an outlet 
to the great stock ranges of Northern California and Southern 
Oregon. 

The traveler who goes north of San Francisco to Humboldt and 
Del Norte counties will find few railroads, and those principally 
private lines owned by lumber companies. The most important 
of these lines are the Eureka & Eel River Valley Railroad, now 
owned by the Santa Fe; the Areata & Mad River Railroad, and 
the Eureka & Klamath Valley Railroad. The large transporta- 
tion companies of California are alive to the fact that this section 
is a very rich one, and it will not be long before there will be many 
roads throughout these northern counties. 

One of the things which will appeal to any traveler in California 
is the service afforded by electric lines. The last few years have 
witnessed a deal of activity in this direction. Every large city in 
California is now the center of a network of electric lines. To a 
certain extent, these electric roads have revolutionized local trans- 
portation in many parts of the State. There are fine electric lines 
in the Santa Clara valley, and in all the most important parts of 
the San Joaquin and Sacramento valleys. The electric lines in 
and around Los Angeles give that city an unexcelled suburban 
service. These lines reach all the important towns near Los 
Angeles, and compare most favorably with the best Eastern lines. 
The rails and cars are heavy, and the time made is exceptionally 
fast. Many new lines are being built throughout California, and 
every existing electric railway company is constantly broadening 
and extending its service. 



PAST AND PRESENT OF THE FRANCISCAN 
MISSIONS OF CALIFORNIA. 



By senator J. R. KNOWLAND, 

President of California Historic Landmarks League. 



Within recent years there has been a very perceptible awaken- 
ing of interest in the Franciscan missions, a subject which forms 
a unique and fascinating chapter of California's picturesque and 
romantic history. As a result, organizations have been formed 
in both Northern and Southern California with the object in view 
of preserving and restoring the remaining missions — landmarks 
around which cluster a flood of historic memories of the pastoral 
days of long ago. 



198 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

But two links are missing in that chain of missions, twenty-one 
in number, which stretched from San Diego in the far south to 
Sonoma in the north. San Rafael Arcangel and Santa Cruz mis- 
sions have entirely disappeared, not an adobe brick or tile remain- 
ing to designate the former locations of these one-time flourishing 
establishments. Of the remaining 'nineteen, Soledad mission, in 
Monterey county, is a hopeless ruin, the rains of each succeeding 
winter gradually leveling the few desolate adobe walls, pathetic 
reminders of pristine glory. 

After practically a century of neglect, during which time the 
hand of vandalism was not stayed, Californians are fortunate, 
now that public sentiment is aroused, that more of these ancient 
piles are not shapeless, crumbling masses beyond human power to 
restore. Today eighteen of the California missions are in a condi- 
tion to be preserved for posterity, but in a number of instances 
the chapels have entirely disappeared, other buildings, however, 
which formed a part of the respective establishments, having with- 
stood the ravages of time. 

The Order of Franciscans, when they importuned Carlos III. for 
the necessary authority to plant the cross in Alta California, were 
actuated by naught but pure and unselfish motives. When at last 
Spain granted the permission so long coveted, the dispelling of 
the darkness of paganism was by no means the controlling influ- 
ence which prompted the action of the Spanish court. The im- 
portance of extending its dominion over the north had long been 
realized. The existence of the desirable ports of San Diego and 
Monterey was known. Had these California ports been occupied 
they would have been found most serviceable to the Manila gal- 
leons, richly laden and often sadly in need of repairs and fresh 
provisions, which sailed from the west by the northern route. 
Pirates would sometimes temporarily occupy these ports while 
lying in wait for the Spanish galleons. 

The fear of Russian encroachments also exerted an influence 
in arousing the Spanish authorities to the necessity of occupying 
California— a fear which was well grounded, as events later proved, 
for in 1812 the Russian government established a fort known as 
Ross, within the present county of Sonoma. Remains of Fort Ross 
still exist. 

Military as well as spiritual was to be the first civilized occupa- 
tion of California. Both presidios and missions were to be estab- 
lished. At San Diego in 1769 the first mission was founded by the 
president of the Franciscans, Father Junipero Serra. Land and 
sea expeditions— two of each— had been fitted out in Baja (Lower) 
California, and it was upon the arrival of the last of these several 
detachments that the cross was planted and the spiritual conquest 
of Upper California begun. 

In 1774 San Diego de Alcala mission was moved six miles from 
the original site, the location of the present ruins. R. H. Dana Jr., 
in his "Two Years Before the Mast," tells of a visit he paid to 
the mission in 1834: "After a pleasant ride of a couple of miles 
we saw the white walls of the mission. There was something de- 



FRANCISCAN MISSIONS OP CALIPORNL\. 



199 



cidedly striking in its appearance: a number of irregular build- 
ings, connected with one another and disposed in the form of a 
hollow square, with a church at one end rising above the rest, and 
with an immense iron cross at the top." Continuing his descrip- 
tion of the buildings as they appeared after they had been prac- 
tically deserted, Dana adds: "Just outside of the buildings, and 
under the walls, stood twenty or thirty small huts, built of straw 
and branches of trees. Entering a gateway we drove into the open 
square, in which the stillness of death reigned. On one side was 
the church ; on another a range of high buildings with grated win- 
dows; a third was a range of smaller buildings, and the fourth 
seemed to be little more than a high connecting wall." 




SANTA BARBARA MISSION. 

The one that has been perfectly preserved. The California building is 

modeled from it. 



The padres of San Diego mission were the pioneers of irrigation. 
A few miles above the mission are the ruins of a dam built fully 
one hundred and thirty years ago to supply the mission with 
water. This dam was thirteen feet in thickness and covered with 
cement that became as hard as stone. 

Only a portion of the chapel of San Diego mission remains. 
The Landmarks Club of Southern California has expended $500 
in safeguarding the few walls of this, the mother mission. 

San Carlos Borromeo (Carmelo) mission was the second to be 
founded. The first land expedition, under the leadership of 
Portala, was unsuccessful in locating Monterey, continuing north 
and discovering San Francisco bay. This expedition returned to 



200 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

San Diego. Undaunted by failure, a second expedition, composed 
of a land and sea detachment, was later fitted out. Both divisions 
arrived but eight days apart, and upon the shores of placid Mon- 
terey bay the royal colors were unfurled, the cross planted, and 
under the spreading branches of a great oak, mass was said by 
Father Serra on the 3d of June, 1770. A year later a more suit- 
able site was chosen near the bay and river Carmelo. The mis- 
sion is now known both as San Carlos and Carmelo. 

In volume II of ''A Voyage 'Round the World," by J. F. G. 
De La Perouse, appears a very valuable and interesting descrip- 
tion of mission life in 1786, during which year this noted traveler 
visited San Carlos mission. As he approached the mission estab- 
lishment he was met by the president, who was clothed in his cere- 
monial habiliments. "Before we entered the church we passed 
through a square in which the Indians of both sexes were ranged 
in a line." Within the church were noticed pictures of hell and 
of paradise. The house of the missionaries, as well as the different 
storehouses, were opposite the church. The Indian village, con- 
sisting of about fifty huts, which served for seven hundred and' 
forty persons of both sexes, stood on the right and were most 
wretched. La Perouse furnishes an entertaining description of 
the daily routine of mission life: 

"The proselytes are collected by the sound of a bell; a mis- 
sionary leads them to work, to the church, and to all their exer- 
cises. The day consists in general of seven hours labor and two 
hours prayer: but there are four or five hours prayer on Sundays 
and festivals, which are entirely consecrated to rest and divine 
worship. The Indians, as well as the missionaries, rise with the 
sun, and immediately go to prayers, which last for an hour. Dur- 
ing this time three large boilers are set on the fire for cooking a 
kind of soup, made of barley meal, the grain of which has been 
roasted previous to its being ground. It is called atole. They 
eat it without either butter or salt. Each hut sends for the allow- 
ance of all its inhabitants in a bowl made of the bark of a tree." 

San Carlos mission has been "restored," a peaked shingle roof 
destroying the original beautiful lines of the chapel. Within the 
church rest the remains of President Junipero Serra, but it was 
not until 1882 that his resting-place was definitely located and 
suitably inscribed. In the vicinity of the chapel are a number of 
ruined walls. 

San Antonio de Padua (Saint Anthony of Padua) mission, in 
the present county of Monterey, twenty-six miles from the rail- 
road, was founded in 1771. Visit this landmark and you will 
become an enthusiastic advocate of mission restoration, for around 
these old ruins hovers an atmosphere of the mission days of long 
ago. The roof of the once imposing chapel has fallen. The long 
cloistered monastery adjoining is in ruins, although a number of 
the picturesque arches of red pressed brick still stand. Remnants 
remain of the dipping vats used for tanning, and of the old flour 
mill with its crude waterwheel. The water for this wheel was 
brought in a stone-walled ditch which can still be traced. It was 



FRANCISCAN MISSIONS OP CALIFORNIA. 



201 



driven through a funnel-shaped flume so as to strike the side of 
a large waterwheel revolving horizontally on a shaft. 

The California Historic Landmarks League last year expended 
$1,000 in repairing San Antonio mission. The great breaches in 
the adobe walls of the chapel, five feet in thickness, were filled and 
a portion of the roof frame placed. It is hoped to complete the 
work during the present year. The plans have been approved 
by well-known artists and architects who are members of the 
League's advisory committee, thus insuring intelligent and artistic 
restoration. 

Mission San Gabriel Arcangel (the Archangel Gabriel) is located 
about ten miles from Los Angeles and is one of the most frequently 




SAN GABRIEL ARCANGEL, LOS ANGELES COUNTY. 

visited of the missions. The chapel alone remains and is in good 
state of repair. San Gabriel was one of the richest of the missions, 
possessing at one period a hundred thousand head of cattle, be- 
sides horses, mules and sheep. The extensive gardens produced 
oranges, citrons, pears, figs and grapes in abundance. From four 
hundred to six hundred barrels of wine were made annually. As 
an example of the skill of the Indian neophytes, under their able 
instructors, we are told that one of the first vessels launched in 
California, a schooner of about sixty tons, was framed at San 
Gabriel and fitted for subsequent completion at San Pedro. Every 
stick of timber, after being hewn and fitted, was brought down 
to the beach upon carts, a distance of over thirty miles. 

San Luis Obispo was the fifth mission, and was founded in 
1772. Its present appearance is disappointing, for a modern 



202 CALIFORNIA : ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

church steeple has been added, removing, as has well been stated, 
every vestige of the days of long ago. It was at this mission that 
the use of tiles for roofing was first adopted, frequent fires having 
demonstrated the uselessness of thatched tule roofs. 

San Francisco de Asis (Dolores) mission was founded in the 
memorable year 1776. The name Dolores was derived from the 
lagoon Dolores, upon the banks of which the mission was located— 
a lagoon which has long since disappeared. The buildings of 
Dolores mission formed two sides of a square without any apparent 
intention of completing the quadrangle. There were buildings for 
melting tallow and for making soap ; smith shops, carpenter shops, 
and magazines for storing tallow, etc. Kotzebue speaks of the 
church orchestra he heard when he visited this mission in 1812, 
which consisted of a violoncello, a violin and two flutes ; these in- 
struments were played by little half-naked Indians who were very 
often out of tune. A modern church adjoins the old chapel, con- 
trasting the present with the past. In the old gravej^ard adjoin- 
ing the church twelve thousand people are said to lie buried. 

The most beautiful of the old mission churches was the chapel 
of San Juan Capistrano (St. John Capistran). This imposing 
edifice was erected under the supervision of an imported master 
mason. It was built of stone and mortar, the stones not being 
hewn, but of irregular size and shape. Over nine years were occu- 
pied in its building. It was cruciform in shape and was 146 feet 
in length by 28 feet in w^idth. It has been stated that this struc- 
ture could not be duplicated today, with a railroad at its doors to 
bring materials, for $100,000. It was surmounted by a bell tower 
125 feet in height. This church was destroyed by a great earth- 
quake in 1812, and was never rebuilt, ruins of the altar end still 
standing. This great temblor visited California on a Sundaj^ 
morning, unfortunately, when mass was being celebrated beneath 
the vaulted roof of the great church, and forty were crushed to 
death. A number of the buildings of San Juan Capistrano still 
stand. The Southern California Landmarks Club has restored 
with tiles 387 feet in length of the principal building, and with 
gravel and asphalt an area of 5,250 square feet of corridors. It 
has buttressed the crumbling stone pillars which support all that 
is left of the great church. 

The fertility of the beautiful Santa Clara valley was early rec- 
ognized by the padres, and in 1777 the mission of Santa Clara 
(Saint Clara) was founded. The average crop of grain was 4,888 
bushels. The Santa Clara chapel is still well preserved, but a 
modern wooden front removes all character of the mission period. 

The two links to be next added to the chain of missions were 
within the present cities of Ventura and Santa Barbara. The 
first, San Buenaventura, was founded in 1782; the second, Santa 
Barbara, in 1786. Civilization knocks at the very doors of both 
these establishments. Business houses surround the mission at 
Ventura, and an electric car line terminates at the threshold of 
the best preserved and most widely known of the California mis- 



FRANCISCAN MISSIONS OP CALIFORNIA. 



203 



sions, lying in the foothills of Santa Barbara. When Santa Bar- 
bara mission flourished there were within the inclosing walls two 
hundred and fifty adobe buildings. 

La Purisima Concepcion (the Immaculate Conception), fast 
being despoiled by the elements, is near Lompoc, Santa Barbara 
county. Steps are now being taken to restore the one remaining 
building. 

Santa Cruz (Holy Cross) mission exists only in memory, but a 
flourishing city bears the name of this former mission by the sea. 

Soledad mission, or more properly, Neustra Senora de Soledad 
(Our Lady of Solitude), with its few crumbling walls, pleads more 
eloquently the cause of restoration than the power of words. 




SAN LUIS KEY, SAN DIEGO COUNTY. 

These ruins are within the present county of Monterey, several 
miles from the town of Soledad. 

The two missions which followed, San Jose de Guadalupe and 
San Juan Bautista, are not frequently visited, located as they are 
some miles from the railroad. Nevertheless, they are well worth 
a visit, particularly the latter, situated within the quaint old town 
of San Juan, in San Benito county. 

Poor old mission San Jose. Formerly one of the most flourish- 
ing, little now remains to recall its past glory. The chapel has 
disappeared, a single, but picturesque, adobe building remaining. 

A modern church steeple was years ago added to San Juan 
Bautista 's chapel, but even the elements rebelled. A furious gale 
one winter's night leveled this hideous addition, the remainder of 



204 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 

the mission escaping unharmed. The well-eared-for garden at 
San Juan, its beautiful arches and numerous relics are attrac- 
tive features. 

From the car windows on the Southern Pacific, coast road be- 
tween San Francisco and Los Angeles, a view is had of San Miguel 
mission. The exterior is plain, but the interior most interesting. 

With the exception of San Antonio mission, San Fernando Rey 
de Espana, twenty miles north of Los Angeles, is one of the most 
interesting, owing to its untouched state of decay and the acres 
of surrounding ruins. The Southern California Landmarks Club 
has reroofed the chapel and monastery of San Fernando. 

The most prosperous of all the missions, and one of the most im- 
posing architecturally, was San Luis Rey de Francia, four miles 
east of Oceanside, in San Diego county, a small station on the line 
of the Santa Fe railroad. This mission contained at one time 2,869 
neophytes, nearly one thousand more than any other mission. An 
idea of the extent of this mission can best be gained by quoting 
from Alfred Robinson, an early American traveler and writer, who 
visited the establishment in 1829. He states: "The buildings 
occupied the sides of a large area, eighty or ninety yards square, 
in the center of which was a fountain with a constant supply of 
pure fresh water. The buildings around this court were divided 
into separate apartments for the missionaries, major domos, store- 
rooms, workships, hospital, and rooms for unmarried females. 
There was also a guardhouse and storehouses for the grain." 
Today the imposing church is all that remains, with the exception 
of the beautiful arches, the original number of which was thirty- 
two, which were ornamented with latticed railings. These arches 
supported the long corridor, back of which was the square in- 
closure, or patio, mentioned by Robinson. 

Three more missions were founded and then the chain was com- 
plete, stretching from San Diego to Sonoma. Santa Inez, after 
Saint Agnes, was founded in 1804. It is located within the present 
county of Santa Barbara, twenty miles from Gaviota, a station 
on the Southern Pacific coast line. The chapel is free from archi- 
tectural ornament. The monastery with its arched corridor still 
remains. 

San Rafael Arcangel, like Santa Cruz mission, has disappeared, 
its location being within the present town of San Rafael, in Marin 
county. 

San Francisco de Solano mission, the last to be founded, never 
enjoyed great prosperity. This mission is within the present his- 
toric old town of Sonoma. The remaining buildings belonging to 
this mission, not being the property of the church, were recently 
purchased with a portion of a landmarks fund raised by a San 
Francisco newspaper, and will be turned over to the State of 
California when the legislature convenes. The date of founding 
was 1823. 

It is difficult at this present day to fully realize the vast extent 
of the mission establishments when they were in their zenith. 



t'RANClSCAN MISSIONS OP CALIFORNIA. 



205 



Each mifr'../' was practically a city by itself, and not merely, as 
many now nnagine, a church within which the Indians received 
religious instruction. The maximum number of neophytes at the 
least prosperous of the missions, Santa Cruz, was 523 ; at the most 
prosperous of the establishments, San Luis Rey, 2,869 ; the aver- 
age for the twenty-one missions being over 1,300, a total of nearly 
28,000 between 1800 and 1830, the golden age of the missions. 
These untutored savages were trained in all the handicrafts neces- 
sary for a self-supporting community. 

When in 1834 the robbery of the missions commenced, known 
under the diplomatic term of secularization, their downfall was 




SAN ANTONIO DE PADUA, MONTEREY COUNTY. 

rapid. They were sold for beggarly sums and the vast tracts of 
land confiscated. In a number of instances these sales were later 
set aside by the United States government, when California came 
into its possession, and the majority of the remaining missions are 
still the property of the Catholic Church. 

The Franciscan missionaries were the original pioneers of Cali- 
fornia, sowing the first seeds of civilization, establishing the first 
permanent settlements in Alta California, and enduring hardships 
almost beyond human comprehension. In restoring the missions, 
Californians are not alone paying deserved honor to the sacred 
memories of those devoted padres, but are preserving the most 
imposing landmarks, both historically and architecturally, that 
exist within the United States. 



206 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. 



CALIFORNIA'S CALL TO THE IMMIGRANT. 



By JOHN P. IRISH. 



It is not pretended that California supplies any specific from 
the wealth of her soil and sunshine that will cure unthrift, bad 
judgment, and lack of faculty, or make of the do-less a doer. But 
there is legitimate basis for the belief that here the average man 
may work in greater comfort more days in the year and earn his 
bread easier than under the conditions that prevail in any other 
state or country. 

California is a winterless land. No deep frosts chill the ground ; 
vine and fig tree do not have to thaw out as a preliminary to go- 
ing into business as fruit-bearers. All stone fruits, and the fig, 
pomegranate, orange, lemon, lime, pear and apple are precocious 
bearers. The peach will bloom the second year from the pit. On 
the Mediterranean the olive fruits meagerly at seventeen years of 
age; here it bears a full crop at seven. In the East he must be 
a young man who plants a tree expecting to repose in its shade 
or to eat its fruit. Here old men may plant, and surely expect to 
enjoy the results. The growth of animals is not checked here by 
the withering winter, and a yearling horse is the equal of any 
Eastern two-year-old. 

But, it may be asked, is not this precocity of animate and in- 
animate life compensated by early decay? The answer is, No. 
That rule has here its exception. The peach tree that blooms be- 
fore the shell of the pit that bore it is decayed, bears on for thirty 
years, or more. Olive trees that furnished oil for the sacraments 
of the old Mission Fathers a hundred years ago, shade the graves 
of the gardeners who planted them, and ripen their yearly crop 
with unabated energy. 

But men fail in California? Yes. Men who buy land and hire 
it planted and worked, running it on the absentee landlord sys- 
tem, fail here and everj^vhere. So do men fail who run manu- 
factures and trade on the same system. But men who take here 
only so much land as they have the means and the ability to con- 
serve, and can properly till and tend with the labor of their own 
families, do not fail ; for here Nature helps the industrious hand, 
and nowhere else does intelligent labor add as much to the value 
of the land, for the reason that here Nature holds one handle of 
the plow. 

The advantage that California has in climate where growth and 
production go on without pause is seen when the farmer finds his 
vines and trees, fields and truck-patch, producing something for 
the market every month in the year. 

What effect does the climate have on the cost of living? Wliere 



California's call to the immigrant. 207 

the pastures yield natural forage, green or dry, every day; where 
the water never freezes; where vegetable growth goes on forever, 
and the storage of vegetables for winter use is never necessary, be- 
cause they are growing and fresh daily, it is natural that the cost 
of living should be less than where the summer and fall are spent 
in hard labor to store food and fuel against the long winter that 
suspends production. Beef and mutton from the ranges ; fish from 
the waters ; fruits and vegetables, reach market here in a condition 
for use more cheaply than elsewhere. 

The economic value of climate should be considered in selecting 
a home: first, in respect to the health of the family, and, second, 
in respect to the number of days yearly in which your vocation 
may be followed. California, it may be said, has no endemic dis- 
eases. Except in the high Sierra mountains the snow does not 
impede outdoor occupation. There are no tornadoes or chilling 
blasts, nor are there any sudden changes in temperature which 
imperil life. The heat in the valleys, though high as indicated 
by the thermometer, is not excessive enough to prevent labor in 
the fields on the hottest days : because the air being dry, the latent 
heat of the body is rapidly eliminated, and the blood is kept cool. 
It will bear repetition that every day in the year is a Avorking day. 
It follows that it costs less to live in California than in any other 
state in the Union, and the comfort of life is greater. 

The intending settler should fix firmly in his mind the topog- 
raphy of California. We have a winter season called "wet," and 
a summer season called ' ' dry. ' ' In the winter months the average 
rainfall is about twenty-five inches, distributed through four 
months of the year, and this is ample to insure abundant crops. 
California is 850 miles long. Her coast-line extends as far as 
from Boston to Savannah. At the same altitude the climate is 
practically the same in the north as in the south of the State; 
hence San Diego in the south and the country 600 miles to the 
north produce identically the same crops. On the west slope of 
the Sierra Nevada mountains, at an elevation of from 400 to 1,000 
feet, is the famous foothill warm belt, stretching from Shasta to 
Kern county, and noted for the superiority of its fruits, includ- 
ing the fig, orange, lemon and olive. 

There is one great valley; its south end rests on the Tehachapi 
mountains, and its north end is lifted up by Mount Shasta. This 
great trough sags in the middle, and the rivers that run from each 
end escape into San Francisco bay through a common delta. 
From these rivers we name each end of the valley, thus giving 
the impression that there are two valleys. The north end of the 
valley is the valley of the Sacramento, with an area of 4,000,000 
acres. The south end is the valley of the San Joaquin, with 
7,000,000 acres. This valley is the seat of wheat and raisin cul- 
ture. On the west of this great valley rises the Coast Range, in 
which lie a number of fertile and extensive valleys, such as Santa 
Maria. Sonoma, Santa Clara, Vaca and Suisun. In most of these 
fruit-growing is the principal industry. The slopes of the Coast 



208 CALIFORNIA: ITS PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, ETC. ^ 

Range, toward the sea, and the high Sierra, are favorable for 
dairying. To some extent, therefore, the settler is guided in the 
selection of his residence by the business he desires to pursue. 

We expend annually over $7,000,000 for the maintenance of 
our public schools. The State is entirely out of debt. The finan- 
cial report shows that the State debt is about $2,500,000, but this 
is only a form of statement. There is that amount of State bonds, 
but the bonds are owned by the State and are covered into the 
State school fund. The State pays the interest to the State school 
fund, which is annually apportioned to the public schools. If 
California has a reputation for public extravagance it is unde- 
served, and the intending immigrant need not hesitate for fear 
his interests will suffer by reason of high taxation, due to the waste 
of public money. 

It is not given to all men to be wealthy; but every original for- 
tune in this country was founded in some man's determination to 
make a living and provide for life's decline when labor is impos- 
sible. Immigration flows where a living may be made under tlie 
most favorable conditions. The variety of resources in California 
invites an equal variety of tastes, training and experience. If a 
man desires to mine, along the western flank of the Sierra Nevada 
mountains for 800 miles is the world's greatest gold field. It has 
already yielded $1,000,000,000 from the merest scratching of its 
surface. 

Horticulture here rises to the rank of a profession. Our soil 
and climate are so adapted to it that fruits from every zone may 
be grown. The clemency of our climate and its halcyon quality 
invite enterprise and ingenuity to experiment in all horticultural 
refinements. No equal area of the earth's surface has produced 
profitably a variety of the fruits of tree, vine and shrub equal to 
that of California. 

The beginning of all successful manufacture is in the transmu- 
tation of the most abundant raw material into more merchantable 
or more permanent forms for transportation and use at a distance. 
The State is not yet sufficiently supplied with plants for drying 
and canning our surplus fruits, or for reducing them to fine jellies, 
jams, pickles, pastes, etc. Immigrants who have a taste for these 
arts will find here a growing field. 

No place presents better facilities for variety farming as it is 
practiced in the Mississippi valley. With a small tract of land 
which may be cared for by the labor of an ordinary family; with 
some orchard and vineyard bordered with almond and English 
walnut trees; producing some alfalfa and grain, and carrying 
some cows, pigs and chickens, the owner will find something pro- 
duced for market every day in the year, while his family living 
will nearly all come direct from the soil he tills. 

The reader will find the subjects herein generalized treated in 
greater detail in other chapters of this book. The treatment is 
conservative, and is intended to invite that careful personal ex- 
amination which the prudent man makes who desires to better his 
condition by changing his abode. 



B N Oo 



